RWBY: Tainted Blood
by Whitethorn23
Summary: A dangerous virus is spreading across Remnant, and innocent lives hang in the balance. Can WHITECROSS stop the virus? But the matters are worse for Team RWBY because one incident threatens to divide them forever, as Ruby fights for her life while another teammate fights for her own redemption.
1. Chapter 1

**RWBY: TAINTED BLOOD.**

 ** _" An inefficient virus kills it's host, a clever virus stays with it._ "- James Lovelock.**

Prologue: Providence

Silverbrand towers, Vale

Room 77

9:00 am

A young man gets up out of his bed where a young woman with short cut blonde hair with black streaks running through it had lain. He opened the balcony doors, in which he went out and stood at the metal railing, looking out into the city. The rising sun started to reflect off his dark brown hair, and he had a muscular build, though his torso was covered with a series of scars from past exploits that he had been a part of. Inside the room was a box that had contained a series of medals, each from different conflicts, and a few purple hearts. A WHITECROSS uniform sat on a bench near the bathroom, which the uniform's colors (White and a moderate shade of green) signified he had a high ranking position in WHITECROSS's Mobile Contagion Control Division, a group that was considered the military arm of the organization. His name was Dante Perez, and he was a Field Marshall for WHITECROSS, while the girl on the bed was his girlfriend Alexis Lucario, an overseer for WHITECROSS's Medical Tech Manufacturing Department. She woke up and walked over to him, and placed her hand on his shoulder...

" Couldn't sleep?" Alexis asked.

" Yeah." Dante responded.

" Well, I'll be damned." Alexis said jokingly.

" Huh?" Dante said.

" I never thought there'd be a human under that uniform." Alexis said.

" Oh, there's a man under that uniform." Dante responded.

They had a fair laugh and then went back inside and got dressed. They went downstairs to the restaurant and ordered themselves some breakfast, and while down there, a News Report played over the television describing a strange illness that had been reported in several kingdoms. Dante's scroll vibrated with his ringtone blaring, he then pulled it out and answered it...

" _Dante."_ Brooks, the man on the other end said.

" Brooks, what's up?" Dante asked.

" _Xavier is calling everyone in, Andromeda protocol has gone into effect."_ Brooks explained.

" Andromeda?" Dante said.

" _Yeah, there is actually some kind of outbreak going_ on." Brooks said.

 _"_ You mean that stuff on the news is actually serious?" Dante said with a shocked tone.

" _Yeah, its some kind of virus that's causing people to become violent like the Grimm._ " Brooks stated.

" I'll be there in about 56 minutes." Dante said.

" _Okay._ " Brooks said before hanging up.

" What's going on?" Alexis asked.

" Andromeda's kicked on, Xavier's calling in everybody." Dante explained.

" Is it something serious?" Alexis asked.

" Yeah, remember what was just on the news a moment ago?" Dante said.

" Yeah?" Alexis responded.

" That's actually serious." Dante said.

" Oh." Alexis said.

He got up, kissed her on the lips, and proceeded back to the room and quickly changed into his uniform. He went down to the lobby, and hopped into his truck and drove to the WHITECROSS headquarters outside the city, a large installation located on the hillside outside the city protected by a large wall on one side to keep the Grimm out. Dante was greeted by one of his associates and right hand man, Field Commander Zach Sackett, whose brother worked as a Chief Virologist for the Viral Research Division.

WHITECROSS Vale Headquarters

Briefing Room

9:50 am

Dante and Zach sat on this elevated platform while the hundreds of troops sat down below in the rows of chairs that had been set up down below. A young man approached the platform, wearing a long, black leather jack with gold clips to hold it shut. He walked with a cane, his cybernetic leg reflecting the lights off it's titanium exterior, and he wore glasses that were black and red, and had a look in his eyes that meant he had seen things that would break the minds of most men. Dante knew who this was, this was his closest friend and boss, Xavier Moore.

" Ladies and gentlemen, we are now being faced with a threat that is turning people into animals." Xavier started.

Xavier explained to the troops the situation, The Grimm Rage Virus, or GRV, was turning people wild and savage much the beasts that the huntsman and huntresses train to combat every day of their lives. The briefing had continued for 30 minutes until troops were instructed to report to their commanding officers, and Dante was pulled off to the side.

" Hey Dante." Xavier said.

" How are you doing man?" Dante asked.

" Doing good, leg can still be a pain in the ass." Xavier responded.

" Anyway, what's up?" Dante inquired.

" You and Task Force Osiris are going to Providence, a mining town owned by the FDC." Xavier explained.

" The Finch Dust Corporation?" Dante said.

" A civilian contacted my office earlier this morning, explaining to me that nearly half a dozen cases of GRV have been reported among the workforce and Finch hasn't lifted a finger to do something about it." Xavier explained.

" I see." Dante said.

" Her name is Katherine, she has agreed to be the town's civilian liaison once we have control." Xavier explained.

" Understood." Dante said, concluding their conversation.

Dante proceeded to the ready room, quickly throwing on his field operations gear and proceeded to board one of the " Goliath" heavy trucks which immediately took off towards Providence, a mining town in the mountains just south of Vale.

Mining town of Providence, South of main city

10:01 am

Providence was once peaceful, peaceful enough that a miner could go to work on gathering dust from the mines without having a maniac drive a pickaxe through their face or not even worry about getting any serious case of "red lung", an illness common among fire dust miners. But now, the town was in chaos, miners struggled to survive other ones who were infected by the "Grimm Rage Virus", which had turned them wild and blood drunk. Katherine was a mountain ram Faunus trying to have a normal life after the dark past she had lived through...

" _Where are you?_ " Katherine thought, referring to the WHITECROSS forces.

Suddenly, Talon Airships flew over head, deploying suppression teams to open the way for WHITECROSS forces to arrive in the town. Hundreds of trucks began to arrive, and soldiers and medical engineers had begun to pour out of them, followed by Dante, Zach, and Blaze.

" I want you to get roadblocks set up at every road exit out of this town." Dante ordered Zach.

" Got it." Zach said before leaving to order the troops around.

" Blaze." Dante said.

" Yeah?" Blaze asked.

" Get the townspeople together, have your scientists start doing blood tests on the civilians to see if any one else is infected." Dante ordered.

" Understood." Blaze said before moving to gather the medical staff.

( _Narration by Dante_ )

WHITECROSS has a reputation for being the most efficient fighting force on the frontlines in the war against disease. Guns and bullets didn't matter in this fight as much as Science and Medicine did because brute force didn't do anything to stop a pathogen. History is not written by those who carry the biggest stick in an argument, but the one who knows how fight with the right materials with the one enemy that no could fight with normal means. This time, we are going to be the ones who topple a new spark before it even catches fire.

 **WHITECROSS has just been deployed to contain the virus known as GRV, or Grimm Rage Virus, which earned its name due to the fact those infected with it immediately became wild and savage like the Grimm themselves. The way you would know that a person was infected, is that there would be a dark red line around their irises and their skin would be pale. This is a RWBY story, and it is my own version of an AU that I crossed paths with a while back by Kumafromtaiwan.**

 **ENJOY.**


	2. Actual Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Fall by the Blade

Beacon Academy, Vale

10:00 am

1 Month into Outbreak

Team RWBY was on their way to carry out an assignment in which was to take out a group of hostile Grimm that was accumulating close to the city's proximity and threatening civilians. Ruby, Yang, Blake, and Weiss prepared to board the airship to take them to the area that the Grimm were gathering, but Yang was concerned for Blake because she was looking a little pale...

" Yang, why are you looking at me like that?" Blake asked.

" You are seriously looking pale, are you sure you are alright?" Yang asked.

" Will you stop, I'm fine." Blake said.

The girls proceeded to the airship, in which Weiss and Ruby decided to talk about the fact Blake had continued to deny the fact she had pale skin currently, and she was simply ignoring it...

" I really don't think Blake is fine." Ruby said.

" Really?" Weiss said sarcastically.

" You don't have to be sarcastic." Ruby responded.

The girls loaded up onto the airship, without knowing that their teammate was actually infected with GRV, and that the fate of their team was about to be decided by the tip of a sword...

Providence

10:10 am

In the first month, WHITECROSS had secured their grip on controlling the Providence situation. Soldiers patrol each street, medical tents were set up in an open area where medical experts were at work, an Advanced Mobile Defense Center sat on a hill overlooking the town, which Dante was pleased with the scene of control that his forces had created in the town.

" You pleased with the work we've done?" Zach said.

" Yeah, let's hope that it stays that way." Dante said.

" Sir, urgent message from White-Hawk." A WHITECROSS Soldier said.

Dante proceeded into the large, two story building and walked into a room that had a technician at the console, and a large metal circle on the ground with a blue ring around it. Dante stood on it and a holographic grid rose up and surrounded him, projecting a holographic image of himself to Xavier's office back in the main city, which was a large room that had a holographic console instead of a large desk, due to Xavier's belief that he would feel like a "corporate asshole."

" Dante." Xavier said.

" _You wanted to see me boss?_ " Dante asked.

" I just wanted to check up on our progress." Xavier said.

" _Well, we've managed to suppress infection levels, and some of the residents are willing to cooperate._ " Dante explained.

" That's good to hear." Xavier said.

" _Sadly, Dr. Sackett and his team are struggling to acquire the exact location of Patient Zero._ " Dante mentioned.

" I wouldn't be surprised, Information kind of flows slowly in these chaotic events." Xavier stated.

" _Anyway, did you get that no-fly zone over this area?_ " Dante asked.

" Didn't have to, turns out the kingdoms have shut down air travel out of the kingdoms due to the outbreak." Xavier explained.

" _It's good that the kingdoms are taking actions in the race to stop all of this._ " Dante said.

" Well, keep-" Xavier said, before an alarm on his console went off.

Xavier pulled up his console and looked to see what the notification was. It was a distress signal coming from the region that Team RWBY had been assigned to, and apparently serious injuries were reported. This immediately alarmed Xavier, which had set off Alarms in Dante's head as well...

" _What's up?_ " Dante asked.

" A distress signal was just sent out from a group of Beacon Academy students, 30 clicks south of your position." Xavier explained.

" Beacon Academy students?" Dante said.

" Yeah, they're just south of your position." Xavier said.

" _That's in the valley, just on the edge of the Q-Zone_." Dante explained.

" Get some men and get those kids to Providence, quickly." Xavier ordered.

" _Got it._ " Dante responded.

He concluded their discussion while Dante proceeded to gather some troops to go and acquire the students, while Xavier immediately got on the horn with Professor Ozpin back at Beacon Academy.

" Hey, Oz." Xavier said.

" _Xavier, what is it?"_ Ozpin asked.

" Do you have any members of your school student body at this position?" Xavier said, forwarding the location to him.

" _Yes, I have a team of students participating in a huntsman class assignment there._ " Ozpin said.

" Well, they just sent out a distress call." Xavier explained.

" _What?"_ Ozpin said.

" Apparently, something has gone wrong. So I've got one of my Field Marshalls investigating." Xavier said.

" _Okay, contact me with any information on the matter._ " Ozpin said before hanging up.

Meanwhile, Dante was on his way to investigate the distress call that had been sent out by the Beacon Academy students with a Talon Airship and 12 soldiers and a couple of medics. They approached the region where the distress call had originated, only to find Ruby lying on the ground with a blade protruding out her back and an injured Weiss over her, and a Berserk Yang trying to kill a terrified Blake that was easily subdued by Dante's squad, and then knocked out by Dante...

10 minutes earlier...

Nubian Valley

Team RWBY had just arrived in the valley and had begun to kill off the accumulating Grimm, but Weiss was injured and weakened as a result of the fight, but she was knocked to the ground by Blake. Blake was now showing true signs of GRV infection, as she had attacked Weiss as a result.

" Blake?! What the hell has gotten into you?" Weiss said.

" WE NEED TO FIGHT!" Blake screamed.

" Blake, you need to stop." Ruby said, getting the way.

" NO, WE NEED TO FIGHT!" Blake had said.

" Blake, please-" Ruby said as Blake drove her sword through her chest.

Blood had spurted out of Ruby's back, and the tip of _Gambol Shroud's_ blade protruded out of her back. Ruby looked at Blake with a horrified look on her face, while Blake was trapped in a hallucination, believing her teammates to actually be Grimm. But the hallucination was breaking, and Blake was now realizing that she had just stabbed her team captain...

" _What have I done?_ " Blake thought.

She was frozen with fear at what she had done and in her panic, she had let go of the handle of _Gambol Shroud_ , only to look up and see Yang becoming very angry as her golden hair was starting to radiate heat and glow, which meant that her semblance was charging up to beyond it's normal level.

" BLAKE!" Yang screamed.

" _Oh no."_ Blake thought.

" I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" Yang screamed, violently grabbing Blake's throat.

Blood spurted out Blake's mouth, and she had difficulty breathing as she felt that Yang was crushing her airway. She tried to get Yang to let go, but touching Yang's _Ember Celica_ stung as it felt extremely hot, which meant that the energy buildup had super-heated her gauntlets. Blake immediately noticed the soldiers coming from the high-tech airship behind them, and heard them shouting...

" STEP AWAY FROM THE INFECTED INDIVIDUAL MISS!" One soldier screamed.

" What?" Weiss said to herself.

" Rodriguez! Get your ass out here!" Dante ordered.

A burly man in a white and red uniform carrying a red bag came rushing over to Ruby and Weiss, and opened the bag to reveal it's a trauma kit. Blake was held down by two WHITECROSS soldiers, and knocked unconscious by the butt of Dante's assault rifle.

" Sir!" Rodriguez screamed.

" What is it?" Dante said as he came walking over to him and the two injured girls.

" We need to get this girl out of here!" He stated.

" Alright, get the girls into the airship, we're taking them to Providence." Dante ordered his men.

" Yes, sir." The Lieutenant acknowledged.

Yang watched as two men carrying a stretcher came rushing over to Ruby's side...

" _What the hell is going on? What is Blake infected with?"_ Yang thought.

 **This chapter ends with a greatly traumatic event happening to Team RWBY, and Ruby's life now hanging in the balance. GRV is also able to cause Hallucinations, in which Blake's little attack on her teammates was caused by her hallucinating and seeing the girls as Grimm, in which she stabbed Ruby and wounded Weiss. Yang has overcharged her semblance, which will have negative consequences in the near future for her. The girls are taken to Providence, and in the next chapter, Xavier has to break the news to Ozpin, but he won't be the only one to hear it...**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**

 **P.S: THIS IS A DIFFERENT AU, SO IF YOU SEE NAMES THAT ARE A LITTLE FAMILAR TO YOU, REMEMBER, IT'S A DIFFERENT AU.**


	3. Chapter 2: Damage Exposed

Chapter 2: Exposing the Damage.

Providence, Southern Vale

11:00 am

The talon airship carrying the WHITECROSS soldiers and the injured girls arrived back at the quarantined mining town in the mountains, and the medics and soldiers were scrambling as an innocent child's life hanged in balance. They landed in the makeshift airfield, and were greeted by a medical team from the task force there, which had consisted of 7 highly trained doctors. They immediately rushed Weiss and Ruby to the medical tents to retrieve treatment for their injuries, while Yang angrily confronted Dante...

" What the hell is going on?" Yang demanded.

" Excuse me?" Dante responded.

" What the hell were you talking about when you said Blake was infected?" Yang asked, before feeling a pain in her left shoulder.

" I'd better take you to talk to my boss." Dante said.

He signaled Yang to come along, in which she followed into the Advanced Mobile Command Platform's Holo-Chat room and had the technician put them on a direct line to Xavier's office...

" Miss Xiao Long." Xavier said.

" _You're WHITECROSS's head administrator?"_ Yang said.

" I know, it's hard to believe." Xavier said in a humored tone. " Anyway, Dante messaged me ahead of this conversation that you have many questions." He added.

" _You bet your ass I do, what's going on? What did your boy here mean that Blake was infected? Infected with what?_ " Yang asked.

Xavier stood up from his chair, revealing his cybernetic leg and he began to speak. " We at war, nobody wants to admit it, but we are all under attack. While you have been going about your daily lives at Beacon, a virus has been ripping its way across Remnant, turning people wild savage like the Grimm through the use of hallucinations and a raging fever. We have called this virus GRV-131, or Grimm Rage Virus if you want to use the long term." Xavier said.

" _How long has this thing been spreading?_ " Yang asked.

" Over a month now, but our organization has been on the frontlines fighting this thing." Xavier explained.

" _How does Blake fit into this?_ " Yang inquired.

" Your friend had survived an encounter with an infected Faunus one fateful day, am I correct?" Xavier asked.

" _Yeah, she said she was visiting an old friend in the city."_ Yang explained.

" Well, that old friend tried to kill her, only for her to be exposed to their infected blood." Xavier explained to the young teen.

" _Oh my god._ " Yang said, appearing visibly shaken by what has just been told to her.

" I know this a lot to take in. But you should look after your sister at this current moment, leave the virus to us." Xavier said.

" _How did?_ " Yang said.

" Dante mentioned that too." Xavier said, concluding the call.

After the call, Dante took Yang over to the medical tents to get the pain in her shoulder checked out, while Xavier contacted Professor Ozpin to update the situation regarding the girls...

" Professor Ozpin." Xavier said.

" _Xavier, how goes that situation with the distress call? "_ Ozpin asked.

" We have the team in our care, though three out of the four girls are injured." Xavier explained.

" _Listen, the team you have in your care is Team RWBY, lead by Ruby Rose._ " Ozpin explained.

" Does Ruby Rose wear a red hooded cloak?" Xavier inquired.

" _Yes, why?_ " Ozpin asked.

" Because she's one of the three injured, and she is currently in critical condition." Xavier explained.

" _What? How is she in critical condition?_ " Ozpin asked.

" She suffered a severe stab wound to the torso, with the blade exiting out her back." Xavier said with a stern tone.

" _My god, what about her other teammates?"_ Ozpin said.

" Miss Xiao Long's injuries haven't been confirmed yet, but Miss Schnee has been confirmed to have received moderate injuries." Xavier said.

" _Understood, I'll shall inform Miss Schnee's sister on the matter._ " Ozpin said.

" If you want to find them, they are currently in the mining town of Providence, and Miss Belladonna is under quarantine." Xavier said.

" _Why is Miss Belladonna under quarantine?_ " Ozpin asked.

" She has been confirmed to be infected with GRV." Xavier explained.

They concluded their call and Ozpin looked up and Winter Schnee had arrived in his office, angered over the fact that her sister has been gone this long after she left for a hunting assignment a while ago.

" Ozpin, where is my sister?" Winter demanded.

" Winter, Calm down." Ozpin said.

" Where is she?" Winter asked more calmly.

" She and her teammates are currently in WHITECROSS care." Ozpin said.

" What are they doing in WHITECROSS care?" Winter asked.

" There has been an incident on their assignment, one of her teammates turned out to be infected with the virus WHITECROSS is trying to defeat." Ozpin explained.

" What?" Winter said in a more concerned tone.

" Your sister and two of her teammates have received serious injuries, though Ruby Rose is in the worse condition." Ozpin explained.

" How is her injuries worse?" Winter asked.

" She suffered a severe stab wound to the chest, with the blade exiting out her back." Ozpin explained.

Winter was struggling to keep her calm and collected composure, until Ozpin told her about Providence and she stormed out of the building, and hopping aboard her personal airship and flying to Providence to get to her sister and her teammates.

Providence Medical Tents

11:15 am

Yang and Dante walked over to the medical tents to address the shoulder pain Yang had been experiencing ever since they had arrived at the quarantined mining town. They approached the head doctor, Mason Fairday, in which he confirmed that Yang had a dislocated shoulder, but he noticed something else...

" How long have you had those burns?" Dr. Fairday asked.

" What burns?" Yang asked, with Dante listening in.

" These burns." Fairday said, pressing the retract button on her _Ember Celica._

Yang was horrified, her arms had been severely burned by the over charging of her semblance, and the doctor carefully got the gauntlets off her arms. Yang looked like she was gonna be sick, so Dante put a bucket in her lap, and she vomited into it.

" How did this happen?" Yang exclaimed.

" Must have been a result of you overcharging your semblance." Dante figured.

" What?" Yang asked.

" Overcharging, means you pushed your semblance too hard, beyond the safest point and that harmed yourself and could have harmed those around you." Dante explained.

" How?" Yang said.

" When my guys came over the hill to you and your teammates, you were blowing anything in your path away. I first saw one of your teammates shielding your injured captain should you have fired in their direction." Dante explained.

" Oh." Yang responded.

" Anyway, I got something that can prevent these burns from getting infected." Fairday said, walking over to a cabinet on wheels, pulling out a bright blue gelatin-like material and two rolls of gauze and medical tape.

" What's that stuff?" Yang asked.

" Sapphire gel, it's a WHITECROSS material used in burn treatment." Fairday explained.

He and Dante each took a glob of the gel and carefully applied it to Yang's burns, and then wrapped them in gauze and sealed them with the tape. A doctor came out of a covered area, taking off blood-soaked gloves and washing his hands in a sink, and Dante walked over to speak to him...

" How is she, doc?" Dante asked him.

" We've done all we could, but she needs to be brought to a hospital." Dr. Reinhardt explained.

" Is it really that bad?" Dante asked.

" Yes, she's lost too much blood, and the blade had fragmented upon impact with her spine." Reinhardt said

Dante turned around to see Yang starting to cry, and he turned to the doctor as he continued where he left off...

" We've managed to remove as much of the shards as possible, but we could remove the others without causing more damage." Reinhardt said.

" How many shards are left?" Dante asked.

" Around six." Reinhardt said.

While Dante was getting the lowdown on Ruby's injuries, Weiss was about to make some new friends...

WHITECROSS Advanced Mobile Command Platform mapping room.

11:07 am

Weiss, though injured, limped her way into the AMCP's mapping room, where she crossed paths with Virologist Blaze Sackett and his assistant, Eric Weinstein, were trying to search for the origin point of the Grimm Rage Virus, but were constantly bickering amongst themselves...

" This virus is clearly biologically altered, see if there's any reports of the virus among bio-labs or research institutes." Blaze ordered.

" Here, I got reports of an infected bio-lab engineer in Vacuo." Weinstein pointed out.

" NAME ME ONE GODDAMN PLACE IN REMNANT THAT DOESN'T HAVE ONE OF THOSE." Blaze exclaimed.

" Hey, don't be so hard on him." Weiss said.

The two individuals were startled by the unheard arrival of Weiss, who had limped into the room, and sat down in a chair with Blaze's help.

" What have you guys been up to?" Weiss asked.

" We're trying to accurately pinpoint the source of origin for this virus. What are you doing here?" Blaze asked.

" One of my teammates was infected and she injured me and my team captain." Weiss explained.

" She's one of the Beacon Academy students the Field Marshall brought in." Eric explained.

" Oh, well introductions then, I'm Blaze and this is Eric." Blaze said.

" I'm Weiss." Weiss responded.

Blaze explained their predicament, because of the chaos created by the viral outbreak, information has been slow to get around so they are having serious difficulty in accurately locating Patient Zero of the outbreak. Weiss suggested a helpful idea to them: find out which kingdom had the most cases of infection, and narrow it down there...

" Weiss!" Dante said.

" Mr. Perez?" Weiss responded.

" Do you know anybody who is flying a Four-engine airship?" Dante asked.

" Winter?" Weiss said.

 **There you have it, Winter is actually showing emotion as she is racing towards Providence to acquire Weiss, Ruby, and Yang. Yang is shocked she had injured herself by overcharging her semblance, and Ruby's situation grows more grim by the minute. Weiss has decided to aid the Chief Virologist in his hunt for Patient Zero of the outbreak, and is shocked Winter is on her way to Providence. The next chapter starts with an angered Winter threatening to carve her way through WHITECROSS'S numbers in order to get to Weiss, and the infected Blake is approached by an old friend...**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	4. Chapter 3: Once four, now three

Chapter 3: Once Four, Now Three

Mining Town Providence, Southern Vale

11:15 am

Dante and the limping Weiss walked into the AMCP's communications room, where they were being hailed on all channels by Winter, who was demanding a place to land...

" Booker, what the hell is going on?" Dante asked.

" We've got an Aletian Specialist demanding clearance to land here." Booker, the comms officer explained.

" That's my sister." Weiss said.

" Allow her clearance to land on the second platform." Dante ordered.

Winter's airship was eventually given clearance to land at the AMCP's second platform, so Dante and Weiss proceeded to the roof to meet with her. The Airship landed the platform, and Winter stepped off the airship with her sword in hand, in case of any resistance due to her presence in a quarantined town. But she quickly sheathed it and ran up and hugged her younger sister, crying tears of joy of the fact her sister was alive. But Weiss was on the brink of crying, in which Winter immediately took notice...

" What's wrong sister?" Winter asked.

" ( _Voice on the verge of breaking_ ) It's Ruby." Weiss said, tears now welling in her eyes.

Winter immediately hugged her sister as she had started to cry, and turned her head to Dante and began to speak...

" What happened?" She asked.

" It'll be better if you follow me." Dante said.

He lead the two sisters out of the AMCP to the Medical Tents, and Winter saw everything that WHITECROSS had been doing for the people of Providence. Infected individuals were being subdued by WHITECROSS shock troops, doctors and specialists were distributing antibiotics to residents, and miner foremen were discussing blueprints of the mine with WHITECROSS surveyors. They arrived in the medical tents, passing by a crying Yang...

" Where's her teammate, Blake?" Winter asked.

" Miss Belladonna has been isolated as she has been confirmed to have been infected with GRV." Dante explained.

" GRV?" Winter said.

" It's the virus they've been trying to stop." Weiss explained.

" Oh." Winter responded.

They arrived at the surgical area of the tents, in which Dante pulled the curtain aside. Winter was shocked and Weiss was horrified, Ruby laid motionless on a gurney, hooked up to life support machines and a bandage wrapped around her torso that was covered by a big spot of crimson.

" The doctors did everything they could, but she needs to get to a hospital." Dante said.

Winter looked down at Weiss, who was scared for her teammate. But this wasn't ordinary fear that Winter saw in her younger sister's eyes, she saw a concern that ran deeper than most, it was concern and a fear of regret if something took Ruby from her. She immediately looked up to Dante...

" Get her ready to be moved, I'll be taking her, Weiss, and Yang to the hospital ." Winter said.

" Agreed, I'll have the doctors prep her to be mobile." Dante said.

They explained the situation to Yang, and she agreed with the plan. Ruby was loaded onto Winter's Airship, and Yang and Weiss followed Winter and the airship took off for the city's Emergency Hospital, leaving the infected Blake behind in WHITECROSS custody. But while she was in the mines, she crossed paths with an old friend...

Providence Mines

11: 20 am

Blake sat in her isolated chamber among hundreds of other individuals who were either acting like wild animals or filled with regret for their actions. Miners and guards walked through the mines keeping close watch on the infected individuals, but one miner stuck out. She was a mountain ram Faunus with blue hair and large grey horns...

" I hate to see you like this Blake." The girl said.

" Katie?" Blake said.

The girl was Katie Miller, a White Fang Defector and an old associate of Blake's, she and her old team defected following Blake's betrayal of Adam on a train assignment. She was an experienced warrior in the style of the ancient hunters, which trained the warriors to resist extreme amounts of pain. She was shorter than Blake, but was the deadliest sword fighter Blake had ever known.

" What are you doing here?" Blake asked.

" Duncan sent me to find you, he heard about what happened with Ocelot." Katie said.

" I had no idea that he was infected with this thing." Blake said.

" We've been trying to find the source of this thing as well, but you won't like the result." Katie said.

" Why wouldn't I like the result?" Blake asked.

" The Fang's involved in this." Katie said.

" What? How?" Blake asked.

" They abandoned somebody in the woods in Mistral a while back." Katie explained.

" Do you think this person is Patient Zero?" Blake asked.

" Probably, He's got Hera looking into this." Katie said.

" That's a good thing, she's known to have "extreme measures" to get information." Blake said.

Katie concluded their talk, slipping out of Providence clear of infection. Blake looked to the glass of the entry door to her chamber and saw only one thing, a Faunus who has been carrying the demons of her past for too long, demons which had destroyed her team, and made her nearly kill her captain. This was the last time Blake was going to let this happen to her, this was the final straw, she had run from her past for too long.

" _Everybody has demons that they run from, only when we approach them we grow stronger."_ Duncan Wolfe said.

" You're right Duncan, I can't run anymore." Blake said.

This had marked the beginning of Blake's largest fight against the demons of her past, the demons that are responsible for unleashing this virus upon the world and made her nearly kill her captain. This time, she will not be alone. Team RWBY has been divided now, as they were once four, now they are only three.

 **This chapter ends with Blake vowing to take down The White Fang and she learned they were the ones who made patient zero as a result of abandoning them in the forests of Mistral. This person was held captive by the White Fang for Ransoming, but they abandoned them in the woods after the ransom was paid by the individual's parents. The next chapters is where the drama gets serious as the three are reduced to two and somebody begins the longest road to recovery.**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	5. Chapter 4: The Third Domino Falls

Chapter 4: The Third Domino Falls at Midnight

Vale Emergency General Hospital

1:30 pm

Qrow Branwen was a known drinker on every occasion amongst his friends and associates. But the news he received on this day was enough to sober the experienced huntsman up, news that would have broken the minds and emotions of lesser men. The news he received played out in his mind, so he had to see if this was true as he marched up the steps of the hospital...

" _Qrow?" Winter said._

 _" Well, what brings the Ice Queen to me?" Qrow said sarcastically._

 _" You need to listen to me, it's about your nieces." Winter said._

When Winter had mentioned that to him, he had actually dropped his flask on the table he was sitting at...

 _" What?" Qrow said in a serious tone._

 _" There was an incident during their hunting assignment, one of their teammates turned out to be infected with that virus WHITECROSS is trying to destroy." Winter explained._

 _" How does Yang and Ruby have to fit into this?" Qrow asked._

 _" They have been hospitalized, along with my sister." Winter said._

 _" What happened?" Qrow demanded._

 _" The infected teammate, Blake Belladonna, had an outburst and ended up wounding Ruby, badly." Winter said._

 _" How bad?" Qrow asked._

 _" She drove her blade, through Ruby's chest, it exited out her back. This sent Yang into a rage, and she overcharged her semblance and burned herself." Winter stated._

Hearing this, Qrow immediately raced to the hospital to see if what Winter had told him was true. He blazed through a crowd of individuals, and approached the information desk, and was greeted by a young receptionist.

" Hello sir, are you visiting anybody today?" The receptionist asked.

" Yes, I am looking for a young girl recently brought in with a tall blonde." Qrow said.

" One sec." The receptionist said, picking up the phone.

" _Please girls, be alright._ " Qrow thought.

" They're are currently on the thirteenth floor, the younger girl has just been transferred out of surgery." The receptionist explained.

" Thank you." Qrow said.

He immediately raced over to the elevators, and hopped aboard one that was heading to the thirteenth floor that had a fancy-dressed teenager on board. They were eventually joined by a worried Taiyang, who jumped aboard before the doors closed.

" Qrow!" Taiyang said.

" It's good that you were able to make it." Qrow said.

" What brings you gentleman to the hospital?" The boy asked in a thick Mistral accent.

" My daughters were just hospitalized here." Taiyang explained.

" Oh my god, what happened?" The boy asked.

" One of their teammates turned out to be infected with that virus WHITECROSS has been trying to stop." Qrow explained.

" What is your relation to them?" The Boy asked Qrow.

" I'M THEIR UNCLE." Qrow said angrily.

" Qrow, relax, he clearly meant no offense." Taiyang said.

" I'm sorry if I had offended you." The boy said.

" What brings you here, young man?" Taiyang asked.

" I'm visiting a friend here, they got roughed up pretty bad by the White Fang awhile back." The boy explained.

" What's your name kid?" Qrow asked.

" I'm Aiden, Aiden Fairchild." Aiden said as the elevator arrived on their floor.

Aiden exited and went his own way, while the two men looked around the rooms to see if they could find Ruby and Yang, attracting the attention of an older doctor who was looking over information on a datapad...

" Can I help you?" The doctor asked.

" We're looking for a young girl named Ruby Rose." Qrow explained.

" Ah, you must be her relatives then." The Doctor said.

" You were told to expect us?" Taiyang said.

" Her sister told us to look out for you both." The doctor said, leading the two men to Ruby's room. " The WHITECROSS doctors managed to repair the majority of the trauma, but the blade had fragmented in some areas as a result of impacting on her spine. They were able to remove some of the shards while we were able to remove the rest, but a few have merged with several nerve clusters. They had to put her in a chemical-induced coma after she nearly went into cardiac arrest after the surgery, so her body can adapt to the shock." He explained.

" What kind of effects will this have in the long run?" Taiyang asked.

" Her reflexes will be slowed greatly as a result of this." The doctor explained.

He pointed to her room, and both men entered it. They saw Ruby laying motionless on a hospital bed, with an oxygen mask over her mouth and she was covered by a white blanket, and a concerned Yang by her side, who looked up to see her father and uncle standing there, both having concerned and emotional looks on their faces.

" Uncle Qrow, Dad!" Yang said, running up and hugging them both.

" Yang!" Taiyang exclaimed.

Qrow walked over to Ruby's side while Taiyang held his daughter close. She appeared as if she was sound asleep in her bed, dreaming about being the greatest huntress to ever walk Vale's streets and Remnant itself. He gently stroked her head, hoping she would be alright and would live through this event. There was a knock at the door, and Weiss came into the room...

" Hey." Weiss calmly said.

" Didn't think you would be up Weiss." Yang said.

" I really just needed a nap after I made some arrangements." Weiss said.

" What arrangements?" Qrow asked.

" For Yang to get a new _Ember Celica_ since the doctors said she can't use the original anymore." Weiss explained.

" What?" Taiyang asked.

" I accidentally pushed myself too hard, and I got burned." Yang explained to her father.

" You pushed yourself?" Taiyang said in an upset tone.

" Overcharged her semblance, superheating the original pair." Weiss said.

" You superheated your _Ember Celica?_ " Qrow said.

" Doctors said if I ever used the originals again, I'll burn my arms off completely." Yang explained.

" So you've got somebody making her a modified set?" Taiyang asked Weiss.

" A friend of mine with the company's making them, he works as a weaponsmith as a side job." Weiss explained.

" Apparently they'll be thermally-insulated so I don't burn myself it that happens again." Yang said.

" So, who's told your father about what happened?" Qrow asked.

" Winter has, he actually understands that Blake was infected, so he won't press charges." Weiss said.

" He was thinking about pressing charges?" Taiyang asked.

" He thought originally, Blake had turned bad, but after the explanation, he's come around." Weiss responded.

There was another knock at the door, and it was Ren and Nora, with Ren carrying a bouquet of flowers wrapped in a pretty pink design. Ren walked over to an empty vase and placed the flowers in there while Nora walked over to Ruby's bed side.

" She looks like she's sound asleep." Nora said.

" Nora, we talked about this." Ren pointed out.

" Right." Nora responded.

" What brings you two here?" Qrow asked.

" We heard about what happened, How are you holding up Yang?" Ren asked.

" Hanging in there." She responded.

" How did you two find out? Ozpin's got this hushed for a bit so a panic doesn't occur." Taiyang said.

" Penny told us, she overheard Ozpin and Ironwood talking." Nora said.

" Who's Penny?" Taiyang asked.

" She's an acquaintance of ours, we crossed paths with her one day while in the city." Yang explained.

" Ironwood's been strict lately, keeping her close to him at all times." Ren said.

" Sounds like she's seriously important to her." Qrow said.

Everyone crowded around the comatose Ruby, and they did the one thing that hadn't expected to do: they prayed. They held hope that faith could speed the process of healing along in a prayer that had been lead not by Taiyang, not Yang, not Qrow, not Nora, not Ren, but Weiss herself. A prayer lead by Weiss, who had a deep care and love for Ruby, a hope that was never going to be shattered or taken from her, or ripped away from her like the things she had wanted when she was a child. After the prayer was done and the words were said, Everyone exited the room except for Qrow, Taiyang, and Yang, and Taiyang turned to Qrow...

" That was nice of Weiss to lead." Taiyang said.

" She chose to lead us because of something within her." Qrow said.

" What do you mean?" Yang asked.

" I saw it when she first entered the room, something clawing at her, something she felt ashamed to tell us, fearful of our reactions. It wasn't just concern, it wasn't fear, it wasn't respect, it was love." Qrow explained.

" Love?" Taiyang and Yang asked.

" A love for Ruby, something that had stirred within her for a long period of time, something that had gestated over the time Ruby was the captain of the team." Qrow said.

" But, why would she be concerned about how'd we react?" Taiyang asked.

" Because, Her father, uncle, and sister were in the room at the time, so she felt a little uncomfortable." Qrow figured.

They all agreed, and Taiyang and Qrow left as they were called back to Signal to address growing rumors about what happened. Yang was left all alone with her sister, who was still comatose, and Weiss was walking back to her room, where she crossed paths with Winter, who was standing at the window.

" I was outside the room during your prayer." Winter said.

" You were?" Weiss said.

" Yes, do you want to know what thoughts were racing in my head when I first heard about what happened from Professor Ozpin?" Winter asked.

" Sure." Weiss said as she sat down on her bed.

" When I first heard those words, I felt my heart skip several beats after he told me. My own sister and her teammates had been wounded by an infected teammate, a teammate infected with the very same virus that was trying to be wiped out." Winter started. " I tried to keep my calm and collected composure, but I failed to do so, and I raced for my airship like there was nothing to stop me." She said, with her voice starting to break.

" Winter?" Weiss said.

" ( _Voice breaking_ ) When I saw your captain lying motionless there, I became scared, picturing what would have happened if it was you in her place, and tried to block it out, to shield it from my mind. But it always wormed my way into my mind, I WAS SO AFRAID." Winter said, breaking into a full-out cry and dropping to her knees.

Weiss immediately stood up from the bed, hugging her crying sister. Weiss knew that Winter had emotions, but what had happened today was enough to push her over the boundaries she had set for herself when it came to her emotions. Winter had always shown a cool and collected position whenever she had been in public with others, but when it came to this day, she had fear overcome her, fear of what Weiss would do if anything had happened to Ruby, the one person she had cared for.

" Hey, hey, it's okay to know when you should be afraid, sis." Weiss said.

" I know, but I just can't help myself right now." Winter said through the tears.

" It's okay, Winter, I will always be okay when I am around you." Weiss said.

Winter hugged her sister back, holding her close, and not letting go. She released after a couple of moments, and went into the bathroom to clean herself up, while Weiss checked her vibrating scroll, to see it was Blaze from the WHITECROSS Task Force that occupied Providence...

" Hello?" Weiss asked.

" _Kid, you are a genius._ " Blaze said.

" What do you mean? _"_ Weiss asked.

" _The idea you submitted to me and my assistant worked, we've got Patient Zero's location._ " Blaze said with excitement.

" Really?" Weiss said as Winter exited the bathroom.

" _They're in Mistral, at a bio-research institute that had reported the majority of their staff being sick._ " Blaze explained.

" A bio-research institute?" Weiss asked.

" _Yes, an employee contacted me with information, saying they have Patient Zero detained so we can acquire what we need to make a cure."_ Blaze said.

" That's great." Weiss said.

" _I know, that means we can end this nightmare before it gets any worse."_ Blaze said.

" That's fantastic, are you on the way there right now?" Weiss asked.

" _No, Task Force Shield has been deployed and they are gonna be on scene in 30 minutes._ " Blaze said.

" Well, keep me updated when you can." Weiss said.

" _Yes, ma'am._ " Blaze said before hanging up.

Blaze was right, Task Force Shield, lead by Commander Savanna Conroy, had arrived and subdued 12-yr-old Adelaide Moreau, who was left in an animalistic state as a result of being abandoned in the forests by The White Fang after the ransom of her kidnapping was paid by her wealthy parents. They synthesized antibodies the girl had, and produced a cure that helped her and over hundreds of innocent people infected in the kingdoms. That number grew every hour, and after receiving her cure, Blake contacted Yang, only to be sent to voicemail.

Vale General Hospital

Midnight

" _Yang, when you get this message, I will be gone from Vale. I wouldn't feel right being around Ruby after what I did and I got some demons of my past that I have got to get rid of. So I don't want to get you or the others harmed, so please, do not try to follow me."_ Blake's voicemail said.

Yang was standing up next to her bed, wearing a long brown jacket with a blue shirt underneath, and the modified _Ember Celica_ on her hands. She felt that Blake's decision was wrong of her to do it alone, so she slipped out of the hospital into the parking garage, and hopped aboard her motorcycle, which had the original _Ember Celica_ mounted on the sides.

" _I will find you Blake."_ Yang thought.

She drove away, determined to find the one person who she cared about as equally as her younger sister. Blake was her partner and their teammate, she didn't have to desert them because of a mistake that had been made because a virus in her blood. She spoke to Junior, who set her up with some passports and a beginning lead on Blake's location, and then proceeded on her hunt to reclaim her partner. The next morning, Weiss had awoken to the sound of doctors and nurses scuttling around...

" Hey, what's going on?" Weiss asked one of the nurses.

" Miss Xiao Long, she's gone." The nurse said.

" What?" Weiss said.

" She left the hospital without being signed out last night." The nurse explained.

" WHAT?" Weiss said angrily.

Weiss immediately walked down to Ruby's room, passing by doctors and nurses, as anger stirred within in her...

" _What was Yang thinking? Blake is our teammate sure, but she shouldn't have abandoned Ruby when she needs her the most right now."_ Weiss thought.

She walked to the door of Ruby's room and opened it up, only to find something that had suppressed her anger, to find Ruby had awoken from her coma...

" Weiss?" Ruby asked.

" _To this day, Ruby's life is going to be changed forever, as two irreplaceable people have just left her side."_ Weiss thought.

 **This chapter is full of the feels, and now Yang has just left her sister's side to go in pursuit of Blake, which angered Weiss. Weiss firmly believes that A sister's duty is to stay by their younger sibling's side through the most difficult times, and Yang had abandoned that duty to go in search of Blake. The next chapter is two-fold, Blake meets with Team DAHK or "Deathlock" which is lead by her old friend, Duncan Wolfe, a Wolf-Faunus who is a master of every weapon known to man, without knowing Yang was watching from a distance. Weiss and Ruby return to Beacon, and receive a special greeting...**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	6. Chapter 5: Tell me a story

Chapter 5: Tell me a story

Vale General Hospital

6am

Weiss had gotten dressed in her regular clothes as Winter had signed her out, and went to Ruby's room. Ruby was meeting with Dr. Hargrove, the attending physician at the time, for an examination to decide whether or not she could be released from the hospital. They looked at the scar left behind by _Gambol Shroud,_ which had taken the shape of a scarlet gem in the center of her chest. Hargrove was sitting in a chair while looking at a clipboard...

" Well, you are lucky." Hargrove said in his thick accent.

" Huh?" Ruby asked.

" The blade missed every organ in it's path, though it did a hell of a lot damage to some nerve clusters and damaged your spine." Hargrove explained.

" But can I-" Ruby tried to say.

" There's still some medical examinations you have to undergo, but you'll be able to be released from the hospital before lunch hour." Hargrove said.

" Can I still be a-" Ruby said before being interrupted again.

" Now, the surgeons were able to remove the remaining shards that the WHITECROSS doctors were unable to remove, but a few shards had merged with your nerve clusters." Hargrove said.

" Can I still be a huntress?" Ruby asked.

" NO!" Weiss exclaimed.

Both Ruby and Hargrove were surprised by Weiss's little outburst, which Ruby noticed that it had been building up throughout Hargrove's explanation of her condition to Ruby...

" Weiss?" Ruby said, sounding a little hurt.

" He's trying to tell you that you can't, because of the damage done." Weiss said angrily.

" Weiss, calm down." Ruby said.

" No, you can't be a huntress for two main reasons. First, your spine can't take anymore damage, it might shatter if you tried to pick up something heavy." Weiss explained.

" Then I'll find a way to make _Crescent Rose_ lighter." Ruby used to counter.

" Do you think making your scythe any lighter will do you any good?" Weiss asked.

" Weiss..." Ruby said, starting to sound annoyed.

" Second..." Weiss said, walking up and flicking Ruby on the forehead.

Hargrove watched as Ruby fell backward onto the bed, with a big red mark on her forehead right in the spot where she was flicked by Weiss...

" Your reflexes are slower now as a result of the nerve damage." Weiss said as Hargrove slipped out of the room for a bit.

" Ouch." Ruby said.

" You see, you're fragile now, if you tried to be a huntress now, you'd been torn apart in a fight." Weiss said.

" Then... I failed." Ruby said.

" Huh?" Weiss said.

" I failed, failed to realize Blake was sick and tried to shrug it off, and now I failed to stop Yang from taking off." Ruby said.

This was upsetting for Weiss, as she was standing there while her team leader berated herself, calling herself a failure of everything. She quickly picked up Ruby by her shoulders and began to speak...

" You didn't fail anyone! You can't blame yourself for their mistakes." Weiss said.

Tears started well in Ruby's eyes as she noticed Weiss was starting to cry herself...

" I only said that because ( _voice breaking._ ) I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU!" Weiss said.

Ruby started to cry and immediately hugged Weiss, who was already sobbing uncontrollably. Ruby immediately felt guilty, because she just attempted to put herself down only to drag Weiss down with her, and Weiss just poured out her feelings for Ruby in front of her.

" I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I shouldn't have said those hurtful things." Ruby said with tears strolling down her eyes.

" I'm ( _sniff_ ) sorry if I hurt you in any way when I had that outburst." Weiss said.

" It's okay." Ruby said, holding Weiss close.

Hargrove came back in after the girls had calmed down, and Ruby continued those examinations Hargrove had mentioned. They were even visited by Dante, alongside his girlfriend...

" Hey, you two." Dante said.

" Field Marshall Perez?" Weiss asked.

" Relax, call me Dante." Dante explained.

" Okay, Dante." Ruby said.

" How you holding up, kid?" Alexis asked.

" Still in one piece, thanks for asking." Weiss said.

" How are you feeling, Ruby?" Dante asked.

" I'm gonna have some serious back pain for a while." Ruby said as a slight joke.

" Ha, funny." Alexis said.

" Who's your friend Dante?" Ruby asked.

" This is actually my girlfriend, Alexis." Dante said, before being shocked by a strand of her hair.

" Shocking, isn't it?" Alexis said, sarcastically.

Both girls giggled at the fact she had made a pun after zapping her boyfriend. After that, Dante decided to speak...

" Yeah, we just came to tell you that Winter is gonna take you both back to Beacon, and that would you guys want to get some lunch?" Dante asked.

" You're offering to take us to lunch?" Weiss asked.

" Yeah, Winter's gonna join us when she can." Alexis said.

" Sure, but I got to pick up Ruby's prescription from the pharmacy first." Weiss said.

" Okay." Ruby said.

" Why don't I take Ruby down to the car while you and Weiss get the medicine." Alexis said.

" Sure, saves time anyway." Dante said.

Alexis and Ruby took one elevator down to the lobby, while Weiss and Dante took another one down to the pharmacy level. Dante decided to ask Weiss what medicine had been prescribed for Ruby...

" Hey Weiss?" Dante asked.

" Yes?" Weiss responded.

" What kind of medicine are they prescribing for Ruby?" He said.

" Some bone supplement for her spine, Cyphexaline." Weiss said, looking at the prescription paper.

" That's a pretty powerful one." Dante pointed out.

" Well, Ruby's kind of a special case at this current moment." Weiss said as the elevator stopped.

They exited the elevator, picking up her prescription, a medium-sized, bulky white container carrying a lot of pills. Weiss carried the bag, and remembered that it can be refilled whenever it runs out after a week. They regrouped with the girls, and proceeded to a popular restaurant where they had some lunch, and Ruby had some of her medicine. After that, they all proceeded to regroup outside the restaurant, where Winter's car was parked next to Dante's.

" Well, time to get you two back to Beacon." Winter said.

" Hey Ruby, since your back is very fragile right now, you can crash on my bed for awhile." Weiss said.

" That'll probably be a good idea since I'm usually on the top bunk." Ruby said.

" Well, it was good to see you both, hope your year is a lot better." Dante said before he and Alexis took off.

They hopped in Winter's car, and they drove to the airship station and hopped aboard Winter's personal airship, flying up to Beacon. Along the way, Weiss explained to her sister what happened with Yang, in which angered her and she had promised to find Yang. They arrived at Beacon, and were greeted by Teams JNPR, SSSN, CFVY, and strangely enough Team CRDL...

" Hey, you guys." Ruby said.

" HEY RUBY!" Everyone shouted.

" What's brings you guys here?" Weiss asked.

" We heard about what happened, so we all gathered here to greet you ourselves." Jaune said.

" You survived being stabbed through the chest, that makes you a badass, so you've earned my respect." Cardin said.

" We've even raised money to pay for your medical bills." Velvet said.

" Thanks you guys." Ruby said.

Ruby was going to have a much better year, while Blake was gonna meet with some old friends and their mysterious ally...

Abandoned Warehouse

1:10 pm

Blake walked up to an abandoned Warehouse on the outskirts of Vale, where a tall bull-Faunus with a Great Maul on her back and an elaborate armor on her chest, standing outside with Katie...

" Hera, Katie." Blake said.

The Bull-Faunus's name was Hera Calypso, and she was part of Team DAHK, or "Deathlock"...

" Well, it's been too long Blake." Hera said.

" Hera, still working out?" Blake asked.

" Yeah, got to keep in shape." Hera responded as a young man with a metal mask on his face and fancy clothes came walking out.

" Hello, Duncan." Blake said.

Duncan Wolfe was a lot taller than Blake and a White Fang Defector just like his teammates. He was born in to a trader family, and joined the Fang after his sister was raped by a human supremacist that was running for a council position. But when Blake betrayed Adam on the train assignment, he ordered Duncan and his team to either bring her in or take her out, but Duncan refused due to the fact he had been close friends with Blake, and his teammates were friends too. Because of his disobedience, Adam violently placed the heated mask on his face as a punishment and strung him up from a post, his teammates cut him down and ran for their lives.

" You clean of GRV? _"_ Katie asked.

" Yeah, WHITECROSS found patient zero and were able to formulate a cure." Blake explained.

" That's good." Katie said.

" Well, look who's back." Aiden said.

" Hello, Aiden, still a pain in the ass, I see." Blake said.

" Something's bothering you." Katie said with a concerned tone.

Blake explained her situation to the group, about how she had suffered a hallucination and ended up stabbing her team captain and wounded another teammate. Duncan listened intently and then discussed amongst the group about this matter should be approached and handled. Blake sat by herself while they discussed amongst themselves, until they came to a conclusion...

" Blake." Duncan said.

" Yeah?" Blake asked.

" We've discussed your matter, and we might know somebody who can help you." Hera said.

" Huh?" Blake said.

" You'll need to talk to the old man, he helped all of us become better." Katie said.

" Old man?" Blake asked.

They directed Blake to an old room with a dusty tome sitting on a table, and they had instructed Blake to read the book and talk to The Old Man. They closed the door, and Blake picked up the book and read it, only to be dragged through by a blinding white light, and waking up in a world where the ground had felt like paper. She stood up and looked around to see the ground was large collections of pages, and spires of strange books towered over the environment.

" Blake Belladonna!" A voice shouted behind her.

Blake spun around to a scrawny man wearing a frilled shirt and black jacket with a blue scarf around his neck, reading a black book in his hand...

" Tell me a story, oh wait, that's my job." The old man said.

 **This chapter ends with Blake meeting The Storyteller, an ancient immortal man who collects knowledge for a living and knows how the world is gonna play out. He actually helps Blake overcome her guilt in the next chapter and rewards her with a gift, which I am not going to tell. The next chapter is also centered around Ruby's road to recovery, and Blake and Team DAHK's war against the White Fang.**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	7. Chapter 6: Dual Recovery

Chapter 6: Dual Roads to Recovery

Fortuna, Storyteller's domain

6:09 pm

Blake was confused about what the man had meant by "telling stories was his job" and wondered what book he was reading. She wondered as well where that book in the warehouse had taken her, to a world where tall spires of books towered over the area, and the man decided to explain to her where she was...

" Welcome to Fortuna, Blake." The man said.

" How do you know my name?" Blake demanded.

" I know everything there is to make up the girl that is Blake Belladonna." The man explained.

" Who are you?" Blake asked.

" I am the Storyteller, and this is my domain." The man stated.

" What?" Blake said.

The man didn't respond as he quickly disappeared in a small vortex of pages, and a gate ahead of Blake opened up and some stairs came out of a wall...

" _You have been marked and corrupted by the guilt of your mistakes, The trials of Broken and Repaired await._ " The Storyteller said in Blake's mind.

" Huh?" Blake said.

" _Duncan sent you to me as he believes you have been overcome by your guilt, begin the trials to start anew."_ The Storyteller ordered.

Blake walked up the stairs and noticed a bright red book sitting on a podium, and watched as it opened just as she approached it. She touched the Book's pages, and was teleported to a tunnel that was covered in tattered banners of the old White Fang Order symbol, as well as her own. She then heard the Storyteller speak...

" _This is the Trial of Allegiance, it will test how strong your loyalty is, to your past and to yourself._ " The Storyteller explained.

" What will happen?" Blake asked.

" _You will be faced with the demons of your past service to the White Fang, and the demons of your guilt that were produced after the incident._ " The Storyteller said.

The gate ahead of Blake opened up to a large courtyard, where innocent Faunus are being persecuted by the White Fang for being sympathetic to the humans, and The Storyteller appeared beside her...

" Back during your service to the White Fang, did they ever do something like this?" The Storyteller asked.

" Yes, Adam wanted all Faunus to be loyal to the cause, so he had the ones who weren't persecuted like this." Blake explained.

" What would you do at this moment? Be The Persecutor? Or will you Be the Defender?" The Storyteller asked her before disappearing again.

Blake closed her eyes and then proceeded to attack the White Fang soldiers, quickly defeating them with great speed and prowess, with nothing but her bare hands. The Storyteller appeared before her again, this time applauding her for defeating the White Fang with great skill...

" Well done, child." The Storyteller said.

" What do you mean?" Blake asked.

" By defeating the persecutors, you have conquered over the demons that haunted you from your past. Only one more awaits." The Storyteller said, giving Blake a longsword.

" What's the sword for?" Blake asked.

" For the final part of the trial." The Storyteller simply said before disappearing again.

A blue book appeared wide open, and this one teleported Blake to an area covered by what looked like a massive train wreck. Cars were lying everywhere, fires burned brightly, and wrecked Aletian robots were tossed around the area. The Storyteller again appeared, this time sitting above her on a wrecked train car...

" You once worked with Adam on raiding a train carrying Aletian arms and a crew of over 50, he wanted to set the demo charges at the disregard of the crew." The Storyteller said.

" Yes, but I wanted to do something about the crew before that spider robot showed up." Blake said.

" So you left Adam to fight the Robot, and abandoned him after it was defeated." The Storyteller said.

" How do you know all this?" Blake inquired.

" I know how events in people's lives were to play out, and I write them down in these texts." He responded, raising the book.

" That book...details my entire life?" Blake said.

" All the way up to the day you die." The Storyteller said.

Blake started to have a coughing fit and a sick feeling in her stomach, and eventually wretched up black liquid which had immediately taken the shape of the one person she had never wanted to face, the one man she never had wanted to see again because her past would haunt her: It took the form of Adam.

" Now, defeat this apparition, and this chapter can come to a close." The Storyteller said.

Blake held the sword he had given her at the ready, like a warrior who wasn't going to run from the apparition that haunted her...

Beacon Academy Dorms.

7:09 pm

Ruby was laying in Weiss's bed due to her spinal injury making her unable to get to her own bed, while Pyrrah sat in a chair, helping her with homework for Professor Port's class. Under doctor's orders, Ruby was to stay in bed for several weeks so she can recover from her injuries. She'll have to be really careful whenever having to go to the bathroom when she has to. Pyrrah and her teammates immediately helped her out in their own way, Pyrrah helped Ruby with classwork and homework and Weiss helped on certain things, Nora ran breakfast, lunch, and dinner to Ruby since she was stuck in the room, Ren and Jaune brought her assignments for her other classes, and her uncle Qrow had been kind enough to take her to her physical therapy sessions in the city and have her back to school on time. Sometimes, Velvet from Team CFVY would come over and play videogames or watch a movie with her.

" Well, that concludes Port's assignment on Grimm physiology." Pyrrah said in a humored tone.

" Yeah, we're done talking about Grimm guts." Ruby said as her watch went off.

" Oh, medicine time." Pyrrah said.

Pyrrah walked over to a small silver tray Weiss had left, with a ice-dust laced thermos containing milk and the little jar of Cyphexaline pills. Ruby took the two pills and gulped them down before rapidly drinking a glass of milk.

" Man, are the pills always gonna taste disgusting?" Ruby said.

" Sadly yes, but they are to help you recover." Pyrrah explained.

" Yeah." Ruby said in agreement.

Weiss had walked in just as Pyrrah had promised to deliver Ruby's work when she went to class tomorrow. Pyrrah then exited the room, and Weiss went over and sat on the bed next to Ruby so she can have a little chat...

" Did you take your medicine?" Weiss asked.

" Yes, the watch Jaune bought for me reminded me." Ruby said.

" That's good, you want to get better right?" Weiss said.

" Well, I don't want have back pain for the rest of my life." Ruby pointed out.

" Hehe, that's a good point." Weiss said.

" Everybody's been kind enough to help me, you especially." Ruby stated.

" Well, you scared all of us, so we're all wanting you to get better." Weiss said.

" Well, you were probably scared the most." Ruby said resting her hand on Weiss's.

Weiss looked at Ruby and she was smiling, in which Weiss knew that Ruby understood what she had meant when she didn't want to lose Ruby. Weiss then turned to her side purse and pulled out a small box...

" What's that?" Ruby asked.

" Just a little something I got for you, with my sister's help of course." Weiss responded.

" Oh?" Ruby said.

Weiss opened the box, revealing a silver cross on a chain. The cross was elegantly designed, with diamonds following the design of the cross, and on the flipside was a message engraved that Weiss had written herself...

 _You are a rose that will never wither, as long as we are together._

Ruby was smiling over the gift she had received from Weiss, the one person who stayed by her side. She pulled Weiss close and kissed her, in which she didn't even resist against it, which it was passionate moment for them both.

" You dunce." Weiss said in an excited tone.

" Really now?" Ruby said in a sarcastic tone.

Both girls giggled for a bit, then Weiss decided to update Ruby about Winter's hunt for her other two teammates...

" Listen, Ruby..." Weiss started.

" Yes?" Ruby said.

" Winter is hot on Yang and Blake's trail, she's not gonna rest until she finds them." Weiss said.

" I know, your sister is the best out of Ironwood's people, I trust her." Ruby responded.

Their conversation was interrupted as there was a knock at the door and it was revealed to be Penny, who was kind enough to stop by to check up on her closest friend...

" Hey Ruby." Penny said as she walked in.

" Hey there, Penny." Ruby said.

" How are you feeling?" Penny asked.

" Back still hurts a lot, so I won't be walking around much for a while. Still got to walk when I got to use the bathroom and will need help sitting down on the toilet." Ruby said.

" Who helps with that?" Penny asked.

" I have." Weiss said, with some disgust in her voice.

" She really doesn't like doing it." Ruby said.

" I have to pull up your pants and underwear after you are done." Weiss said.

" That I am actually sorry for." Ruby responded.

After their conversation, Penny took off as Ironwood was getting curious to where she had wandered off. Nora brought dinner to Ruby, and then brought the tray back to the cafeteria when she was done, and the girls went to bed when the time came. But something had roused Weiss from her sleep, as she had heard murmurs from the other side of the room, and noticed Ruby was moving around in her sleep and appeared to be crying.

" Ruby?" Weiss asked very quietly.

Ruby sprung awoke, startling Weiss a bit, and starting breathing heavily like she had awoken from a nightmare that had scared her greatly...

" Hey, hey, it's okay." Weiss said to calm her.

" I'm sorry, I just had a bad dream." Ruby said.

" What was it about?" Weiss asked her.

" How I got my scar." Ruby explained trying to clean up the tears.

Weiss immediately felt concerned, Ruby was suffering from constant nightmares about what had happened when Blake was infected with the virus. Weiss offered to stay with Ruby for the night, which Ruby immediately accepted, and Weiss went to sleep in the same bed as Ruby so she would be right there should any more nightmares happen. While Weiss worked on helping Ruby with her road to recovery, Blake was nearing the end of hers...

Fortuna, Trial of Acceptance

10:00 pm

Blake was laying on the ground, in a completely dark tunnel, no light to been seen any where for what looked like miles. The Storyteller was nowhere to be seen, which Blake had gotten used to, and the longsword that he had given her was now on her back. The Storyteller's voice was heard once again...

" _You have surpassed all the trials Blake, but this one will be the most challenging for you."_ The Storyteller said.

" How will this be a challenge?" Blake asked.

" _You will see._ " The Storyteller said before going silent again.

Blake started to hear voices that sounded like accusing voices, and the air in the tunnel got colder and it felt like it was burning her skin when gusts of wind breezed by. She turned around dodged a red and gold spear that nearly took her head off. She turned and saw an angry Pyrrah ready to murder her as she ran up and grabbed Blake by the throat...

" WHY DID YOU TRY TO MURDER HER?!" Pyrrah screamed before dropping her and disappearing.

" _What the hell?"_ Blake thought.

Her trachea felt like it was just crushed by an Ursa, which Blake remembered Pyrrah not being that strong before. She walked through the tunnels, and was attacked by another apparition, this one taking the shape of Nora, who knocked Blake to the side with her hammer.

" YOU WILL BURN FOR THIS, BLAKE!" Nora screamed before disappearing.

" _Why are they doing this?_ " Blake thought.

Blake felt her side and it was in serious pain, she made her way through the tunnels again and was then attacked by two different apparitions at the same time, this time it was Jaune and Ren, who injured her right arm and left her with a black eye...

" YOUR SINS WILL NOT BE UNPUNISHED!" The boys said before disappearing.

" _What is beating the crap out of me gonna teach me?_ " Blake thought to herself.

She walked along the tunnels, carrying her injured arm so it would hurt less after what had transpired. She raced towards an exit in hopes of escaping, only to be attacked this time by three apparitions with glowing blue eyes. They were of Ruby's Uncle Qrow, her father Taiyang, and Weiss's older sister, Winter.

" YOU NEVER ESCAPE WHAT YOU HAVE BECOME!" Qrow screamed.

" YOU ARE THE MONSTER SHE ALWAYS WILL FEAR!" Taiyang screamed.

" YOU WILL NEVER BE ACCEPTED BY THEM EVER AGAIN!" Winter screamed before all three disappeared.

Blake was physically hurt by their words, and doubt began to stir in her mind. What if Winter was right? Will she ever again be accepted her teammates after everything she had done? Can she go back and face them after what she did? These thoughts were quieted when she was attacked by apparitions of Sun and Neptune, escaping with only a scratch over her left cheek.

" YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER RUN!" Neptune screamed.

" YOU WILL NEVER ESCAPE THE PAST YOU RAN FROM!" Sun screamed before both boys disappeared.

" _They're right, I've run from every mistake I had made, now I possibly killed the one person who trusted me._ " Blake thought.

She wandered out into a large courtyard where the book to exit Fortuna sat atop a pedestal, but it was on the other side of three large pools, a pool of fire, a pool of ice, and a pool of blood. She tried to go around them, but was attacked by sentient fire, which had taken the shape of Yang.

" I WILL KILL YOU!" Yang screamed.

" Please, let me explain!" Blake said.

Blake did everything she could to dodge the violent attacks of the apparition, and slipped on the side of the Pool of ice, and her ankle was grabbed by a hand that was made completely of ice, as an ice apparition in the shape of Weiss came rising out of it.

" WHY DO YOU LET YOUR GUILT CONTROL YOU?!" Weiss demanded from Blake.

Blake simply kicked her away, and was backed into a corner by a Fire Apparition in the form of the one girl she had considered her partner and an Ice Apparition in the shape of the one girl who had put her trust into. They had backed her towards the pool of blood, where Blake fell into it, and felt like she was drowning, awakening in a darkened place with a final apparition in front of her, this time in the form of Ruby whose clothes were blood-soaked and she still had _Gambol Shroud_ in her chest.

" Why did you do it Blake? Why did you try to kill me?" Ruby asked.

" I never wanted to, you are my friend and my captain, I placed my trust in you to do the right thing when it came to certain situations, and I let myself get cocky. I thought that I wasn't infected with that virus WHITECROSS was trying to stop, thought I was going to be fine. But I was wrong, and my ambitions cost me you, Yang, and Weiss as my friends. It tore me apart inside because I thought I had killed you that day, I thought I ended your life before it even truly began, and I even thought about killing myself just to silence the memories of that happening. I let ambition get the better of me, and for that, I am truly sorry for doing that, and I beg for your forgiveness, otherwise you can return the favor." Blake said, holding out the sword to the apparition.

But the apparition slowly backed off and she returned to the courtyard, the pools were no longer there and her injuries were gone from sight. The Storyteller appeared above her, with an outstretched hand and a smile on his face.

" The hardest trial all beings have to endure is The Trial of Acceptance, to acknowledge her guilt, and to let it all out." The Storyteller said.

" You wanted me to face my guilt?" Blake asked.

" To allow it to gestate and grow would have proven dangerous for you." The Storyteller explained.

" So, what happens now?" Blake asked.

" You are ready to help Duncan now, so you will be needing this, hand me the longsword I gave you." The Storyteller instructed.

Blake handed him the sword, and he drove it straight into a book he put onto the floor that was left open, and the sword was swallowed up by the book and it slammed shut. It started to shake violently and began to levitate between them both. The book exploded open and a new _Gambol Shroud_ was floating above it, like the weapon had never been destroyed at all, and Blake reached out and took it, feeling a sense of familiarity as it was in her hands again.

" Read the book at the top of the stairs to return to Remnant when you are ready." The Storyteller explained.

" Thank you, for everything." Blake said.

" Anytime, child." The Storyteller responded.

Blake proceeded up the steps and opened the large red book, and was teleported back to the old warehouse room she was locked in. Duncan was standing in the doorway, looking to Blake as she had come into possession of a new _Gambol Shroud._

 _"_ Are you ready?" Duncan asked.

" Yes." Blake responded.

 **People have the hardest time when they have to face and accept the guilt of the mistakes they had made. Blake learned that lesson with the help of the Storyteller, and she was now ready to join forces with Duncan and his team in waging war against the White Fang. Ruby and Weiss have started a relationship together, showing that I support the master ships, and Weiss must help Ruby overcome nightmares about what happened. The next chapter starts with Blake and her allies get a new ally, and Weiss and Ruby have their first official date that is chaperoned by Qrow.**

 **WAIT, SEE, AND ENJOY.**


	8. Chapter 7: The War Begins

Chapter 7: The War Begins

Abandoned Warehouse, Vale Outskirts.

6am

Blake was now reassured in herself as the Storyteller had helped her overcome the guilt because her past mistakes, and she had also received a brand new _Gambol Shroud_ as a result. She was willingly working with Team DAHK in waging war against their former comrades, The White Fang, as they believed that The Fang have lost their way and have become the monsters whose masks they don. They were discussing information that had been recently delivered to them: The Fang had been shown occupying an abandoned WHITECROSS research facility in Mistral, trying to re-activate some kind of weapon that the organization had left behind.

" Do we know what kind of research the Facility had been carrying out?" Katie asked.

" Advanced robotics, they were thinking about applying robots to aid their forces in the field." Duncan explained.

" How will it take to get us there?" Blake asked.

" A couple of hours, it's located off Mistral's Southern Coast." Aiden explained.

" Do we even have a plan for once we get there?" Hera asked.

" We take out the bad guys and decide what to do with their weapon." Duncan said.

" Agreed." Blake said.

" But there's a problem, we're in Vale while it's in Mistral." Katie pointed out.

" I got a friend who runs a smuggling crew on the coast, he can get us there." Aiden said.

The group concluded their discussion, without knowing that Yang had planted a listening bug in the room they were talking in...

" _So you're going to Mistral with these "friends" of yours, to stop the people you used to work for?_ " Yang thought to herself.

She watched as they took off to meet with Aiden's smuggler contact, and then pursued them on her motorcycle with the hopes of getting a head of them. But a tracker hidden on her motorcycle was secretly transmitting her location to Winter's scroll...

" Got you." Winter said.

While Winter was giving chase to the two girls, Weiss and Ruby were going to start their relationship in the best possible manner...

Team RWBY's dorm room, Beacon Academy

9:20 am

Weiss had awoken so she can get ready for school, while Ruby was still sound asleep on Weiss's side. She had stayed in the bed with Ruby since the nightmare last night that had scared both her and Ruby, and when she had moved, Ruby held Weiss tighter, closer to her while smiling. Weiss wriggled free carefully, then kissed Ruby on the forehead and whispered something to her...

" _I love you, Ruby._ " Weiss whispered.

Weiss quickly got her uniform on and placed the tray with the thermos and medicine container on a little table next to the bed, and went to the door. She heard the dozens of students proceeding the cafeteria for breakfast, and she looked back to the bed to see Ruby still asleep, but she had a big smile on her face, which meant that she heard what Weiss had said. She carefully exited the room, and bumped into Pyrrah...

" Hello, Weiss." Pyrrah said.

" Hey." Weiss responded.

" Heard a bit of commotion over in your room last night, something happen?" Pyrrah asked.

" She had a nightmare about what happened." Weiss explained.

" Oh, is she okay?" Pyrrah asked.

" Yeah, she's actually sleeping rather peacefully now." Weiss said.

" Really?" Pyrrah asked.

" Yeah, like a little angel." Weiss said with a slight smile on her face.

She eventually looked at Pyrrah, who was giving Weiss a humored look that left her confused...

" What?" Weiss asked.

" You kissed her, didn't you?" Pyrrah said.

" What are you talking about?" Weiss said in denial.

" You've fallen in love with Ruby." Pyrrah said.

" DID SOMEBODY SAY LOVE?" Nora said annoyingly.

" Gah! Nora, where'd you come from?!" Weiss said.

" I wondered you two had wandered off." Nora simply said.

" Well, we just finished our conversation." Weiss said, walking away.

Pyrrah whispered what she and Weiss were talking about into Nora's ear, which made Nora's jaw drop. Pyrrah made Nora promise not to tell anyone yet, which Nora reluctantly agreed to. Ruby had woken up from her sleep, and Nora was standing there, with a tray of breakfast for her. She set it on the little stand that Qrow had bought for Ruby for the time she had been confined to bed rest, and while Ruby was eating her breakfast, she had noticed something rather odd...

" Nora?" Ruby asked Nora as she tried to tiptoe out of the room.

" Yes?" Nora said.

" Why is there a White Rose on the tray?" Ruby inquired.

" No reason." Nora responded.

" Well ( _downing the glass of milk and the medicine)_ I'm finished." Ruby said.

" Okay then." Nora said, taking the tray away.

Ruby held the rose Nora had left on the tray, and pondered the meaning of why she had left it there. She then realized what it had meant: NORA KNEW ABOUT HER AND WEISS! While she was confined to bed, and being unable to kick Nora's ass for that, Blake was on her way to the Abandoned WHITECROSS Laboratory in Mistral...

Argos Coast, Mistral

10am

Blake, Duncan, Katie, Hera, and Aiden proceeded to approach the laboratory, which had appeared as an abandoned structure surrounded by White Fang forces. The numbers outside stood at around 20, and their numbers only stood at five, which they liked those odds. But before they could approach, they crossed paths with a young man wearing a fighter pilot jacket carrying a heavy sniper rifle, which Katie held him at sword point with her sword _Helena's Wrath_.

" Hey, take it easy." The man said.

" Who are you?" Duncan demanded.

" My name is Eric Castor, and I'm trying to get the Nightprowler out there." Eric said, pointing to the facility.

" I thought the facility was for Advanced Robotics." Aiden said.

" It was, but it was also testing experimental flight tech. Nightprowlers were experimental stealth fighters that can deploy an entire squad into battle covertly." Eric explained.

" Why would WHITECROSS need stealth fighters?" Katie asked.

" Because they needed to deploy advanced recon teams to survey possible infection sites, but sometimes people didn't like that." Eric said.

" That could come in handy for what we got to do." Hera pointed out.

" Wait, what do you got to do?" Eric asked.

Duncan explained what their plan of action to the fighter pilot who was trying to be sneaky, their plan of action do everything they could to stop or slow the White Fang from getting their hands on anymore dangerous weapons they could use to further their cause. Eric was taking his time to look it over...

" Well, if you are planning to use the Nightprowler, I'm coming with you." Eric said.

" Are you sure?" Duncan asked.

" Do either of you kids know how to fly something as advanced as this?" Eric stated.

The group didn't argue anymore and proceeded to attack the White Fang forces at the facility, overtaking their numbers by surprise and entered the facility to clear the rest of them out. After they defeated the remaining White Fang forces, Hera and Duncan went to help Eric with prepping the Nightprowler for launch while Aiden, Katie, and Blake went and secured the weapon the White Fang had come for in the Robotics storage area and they came face to face with a pale white robot that looked like it hadn't rusted for years...

" What's this thing?" Aiden asked.

" Is this the weapon?" Blake said.

Katie was looking over the documents on a table, in which she immediately realized what the robot really was...

" Guys, do you know what this is?" Katie said in an excited tone.

" No, but I'm guessing you do?" Aiden said.

" This is an Adaptoid." Katie exclaimed with joy.

" A what?" Blake asked.

Katie explained that Adaptoids are living constructs of mimetic polyalloys that are capable to adapt to every kind of situation, such as extreme heat or acid, and that they could even survive a heavy duty explosion such as a missile strike or heavy bombardment. But what they didn't understand was what WHITECROSS would use such advanced technology for, but they knew it shouldn't be used by The White Fang at all, and that they could use it against them.

" Alright, let's try and fire it up." Aiden said.

" Are you sure? It could become violent." Blake said.

" We need every edge against the Fang Blake, this thing could help us greatly." Katie said.

They hit the switch, and the Adaptoid started to vibrate and shake until it stopped all of a sudden, and begin to speak to them...

" ATTENTION, UNIT 1380 ONLINE, RUNNING SYSTEMS DIAGNOSTICS. ARMOR: FUNCTIONAL, WEAPONS: ACTIVE, SENSORY SYSTEMS: ON, ADAPTIVE PROTOCOLS: INTACT, CYBERWARFARE SUITES: ONLINE, ACTIVATING A.I PERSONALITY PROTOCOL." The Adaptoid said, before starting to act like a person.

" Whoa." Aiden said.

" _What? Where am I?_ " The Adaptoid asked in a thick accent.

" You're safe, you're in the lab." Katie said.

" _Greetings madam, my name is Caius._ " The Adaptoid said.

" I'm Katie, and this is Blake and Aiden." Katie said.

" _Pleased to meet both of you._ " Caius said.

" Well, we've got you online, so let's get you out of here before the White Fang come back." Aiden said.

" _White Fang?_ " Caius asked.

" They're terrorists who want to use you for their cause." Blake said.

" _Oh, the nerve of them, a pox on their heads._ " Caius said.

" Leave the smart-ass comments to us, okay?" Katie said.

" _Alright, sorry."_ Caius said.

They were contacted on the radio by Duncan, who told them that the Nightprowler was ready to launch and asked if they had found the weapon. Katie explained the situation to Duncan, in which he expressed some concern about having Caius active. They regrouped and hopped aboard the Nightprowler, a large white and gold fighter, and flew away from the main facility after scuttling it. Meanwhile, Yang was going to be confronted again by Raven...

Make-shift camp, Mistral

10:30 am

Yang was resting in a make-shift encampment to regain her energy before she continued her chase of Blake and her allies. She ended up dozing off, waking up in another dream sequence in which she was confronted by Raven again.

" For the second time, I am not letting Blake run off like this." Yang said.

" So I'm not giving up until you change your mind." Raven said.

" You can't persuade me, I'm not letting my partner run off like this, even if she used to be White Fang." Yang said in anger.

" So you willingly abandon your injured sister when she needs you the most, to pursue your partner!" Raven exclaimed.

" Just like you ran when I was a baby?" Yang said.

Raven was hurt by Yang's words, words that had shown she was harboring anger, anger for her partner deserting them to go on some insane crusade to seek redemption for herself. But Raven also knew that this quest that her daughter was on had been toiling on her...

" Why do you push yourself like this?" Raven asked.

" Because... when you're part of a team, they eventually become like a second family for you. You always know that whenever you're down, they will always be there to pick you back up and dust you off. Blake is a part of my team, so I consider her family, and family doesn't abandon one another." Yang said.

" Maybe you should listen to your own advice." Raven said.

Yang woke up just after Raven had said that, and the sun was at highest when she had awoken. She packed up her camp, and loaded her motorcycle and took off in pursuit of the group, thinking about what her mother said to her. While Yang gave pursuit of Blake, Weiss was about to do something pretty daring...

Team RWBY's Dorm, Beacon Academy

12:11 pm

Ruby was just polishing off her lunch of a ham-cheese sandwich with a side of cookies, and Weiss was walking back to the dorm room to check up on her girlfriend, which was a term she had been quickly adjusting to since she had known her feelings to be true. Nora had walked out with the empty tray and dirty dishes, and Weiss walked into the room to talk to Ruby, while hiding a pair of movie tickets to see _Grimm Master: Lord of the dead,_ a film about a brave team of huntsmen who take on an undead magister and his army of Grimm. Ruby was laying in bed, and smiling when she saw her girlfriend enter the room...

" Hey, sweetie." Ruby said.

" Don't go soft on me, you dunce." Weiss said jokingly.

" Hehe, anyway, what's up?" Ruby asked her girlfriend.

" I've wanted to ask you something." Weiss said.

" Really? What is it?" Ruby asked.

" Do you want to go see a movie tonight?" Weiss said.

" What's the movie?" Ruby asked.

" Oh, just _Grimm Master: Lord of The Dead._ " Weiss said with a slight smirk.

" Really? How'd you even get tickets for that?" Ruby asked with excitement.

" I called in a favor from an old friend who works at the theatre, he got me tickets for a 4:00 showing, giving us plenty of time to get back here before bed." Weiss said.

" Well, when does the movie end?" Ruby asked.

" It's 2 hours and 5 minutes." Weiss said.

" So it ends at 6:05, and the theatre is only 2 blocks away from the transport hub, yeah we'll make it." Ruby said.

" Did you just do math?" Weiss asked.

" Yeah, I've got way too much free time on my hands." Ruby said.

" So you're in?" Weiss said.

" Yeah, anything for my girl." Ruby said.

Weiss hugged Ruby, grateful she had said that, without knowing that Qrow was listening in...

" Great, that means someone can keep you two out of trouble." Qrow said.

" Gah, Uncle Qrow, where did you come from?" Ruby said.

" I have my ways, so, you two are a thing now, huh?" Qrow said.

" How did you?" Weiss said.

" Lucky guess, and your pal Nora is booming with excitement about it." Qrow explained.

" I'm guessing you are gonna express your opinion about it now, huh?" Ruby said.

" Yeah, I actually don't judge when it comes to things like these." Qrow said.

Both girls were immediately surprised at the one fact that they had just learned was that Qrow was not a judge when it comes to relationships. He explained that he thought it was rather stupid at the fact politics was mingling with emotions, and that religion shouldn't be involved in the great game that is love. He offered to take the girls to the movie when the time came, and he expressed his relief that they weren't going to see _Grimmnado,_ as he had preferred the comics better than the movie.

" I'm surprised he didn't freak out." Weiss said.

" Yeah, so am I." Ruby said.

" Anyway, looking forward to tonight." Weiss said.

" So am I." Ruby said, kissing Weiss on the cheek.

The girls continued about their daily lives, with Weiss attending her classes and Ruby receiving her assignments from her friends and completing them with their assistance. When the time came, Weiss had to help Ruby get dressed because her spine was still recovering, and they went with Qrow to the movie. Ruby had immediately knew that this was going to be an interesting year...

 **This chapter concludes with Ruby and Weiss going on their first official date and Blake and her friends gain two new allies for their cause, The washed-up WHITECROSS fighter pilot Eric Castor and the advanced Adaptoid Caius. _Grimm Master: Lord of The Dead_ is a reference to the movie _The Mummy_ , as it runs on the same time frame as the movie itself. Raven has been trying to dissuade Yang from her hunt of Blake but to no avail, as Yang is determined to make her partner come back. The next chapter starts with a very large fight between Blake, her allies, and the White Fang, and then transitions to the aftermath of Ruby and Weiss's date. It is also the next appearance of Dante's girlfriend Alexis, and how she handles a group of thugs when they try to rob a friend of hers while they are out shopping. Winter is set to discover her sister's new found interests...**

 **WAIT AND SEE, THIS IS GOING TO BE GOOD.**


	9. Chapter 8: Thinning the ranks

Chapter 8: Thinning the enemy ranks

Vandal's peak, Mistral

6:30 pm

Vandal's Peak was a criminal controlled settlement, a place where major criminal elements would operate their business without being interrupted by local law enforcement, and could do whatever they wanted. This was the perfect place for the White Fang to gather recruits among the local Faunus who had turned to crime, and the perfect place for Blake and her allies to start their fight against their former comrades. In the town inn, a recruiter for the organization was training possible recruits in small sparring matches in the large basement. But one of those recruits just so happened to be Caius in disguise as a dog-Faunus, with Blake watching from the shadows...

" _Remember Caius, we need to find out where the Fang have their training ground here, so don't kill any of the others._ " Blake explained via comms.

" Understood, ma'am." Caius said.

" Jordan Basset, we're ready for you." The recruiting agent said.

Jordan Basset was his cover name for when he infiltrated the fighting ring that was used as a way for The White Fang to recruit new members to their cause. He entered the ring and dominated over the other recruits, following Blake's orders not to kill any of the other candidates, thanks to his adaptive protocols. He impressed the White Fang lieutenant that was overseeing the matches, and then was approached by the man after the fighting was done...

" Your fighting style's impressive kid." The lieutenant said.

" Well, I'm thankful that my semblance helps me greatly." Caius responded.

" Why don't you meet me at this location? You'll fit in just fine with my people." The Lieutenant said.

" I'm looking forward to it." Caius said with a smile.

" _Well done Caius, we're one step closer."_ Blake said.

" They're in for one wild night." Caius said.

Caius proceeded to meet up with his "ride" (Hera) to the main training ground for the White Fang's operations in Mistral, while back in Vale, Ruby was about to undergo her 7th therapy session to test her spine's strength following the incident.

Cantor therapeutics

9:34 am

Qrow and Ruby pulled up to Cantor Therapeutics for her 7th therapy session for her spine, as ordered by Doctor Hargrove. It was a relatively large building, it's outside being a simple white with a red cross as a logo. It stood between two large buildings, one was an apartment complex while the other was a restaurant that was usually busy around lunch time. They entered the structure, where they even saw veteran huntsmen and huntresses undergoing therapy here. They approached the receptionist at the desk...

" Um, hello." Qrow said.

" Oh, hello sir." The receptionist said in response.

" We're here for my niece's therapy session with Dr. Williams." Qrow explained.

" Oh, you must be Mr. Branwen, please have a seat, Dr. Williams will be with you shortly." The receptionist said.

Ruby and Qrow walked over to the leather couch, and they sat down together with Qrow helping Ruby sit down due to her spinal injury. They were sitting next to a much older gentleman, who wore a fancy business suit, a Pin the shape of a Thunderbolt sat on the fold of his jacket and black leather shoes on his feet.

" What brings a young girl like yourself here?" The man asked Ruby.

" I suffered a pretty serious spine injury a while back." Ruby said.

" Did it involve a blade?" The man asked.

" Yes, how did?" Ruby said.

" My nephew was part of the WHITECROSS unit that had found you." The man explained.

" You have a nephew in WHITECROSS?" Qrow asked.

" Yeah, I'm glad he's actually doing some good work." The man said.

" What did he used to do before joining WHITECROSS?" Ruby asked.

" He fell in with a bad crowd, ended up finding out he was illegally moving shipments for a crime syndicate." The man said.

" So what'd he do?" Qrow asked.

" He quit and told the police about that business." The man said.

" What's your name?" Qrow inquired.

" I'm Benjamin Irons, my son is here for his session after he was in a car accident." Ben said.

" I'm Qrow, and this is my niece Ruby." Qrow said.

" Pleased to meet you, hope your road to recovery is as swift as the wind." Ben said.

" Favorite phrase of yours?" Ruby asked.

" Yes, I'm actually trying to get a new one." Ben said.

After their discussion, Ruby was called in by Dr. Kendra Williams to begin her therapy session, which tested her back's flexibility and strength. She also tested Ruby's reflexes and response time by tossing a ball back and fourth. Meanwhile, Ozpin was about to get both a package and a special visit from Ruby's teachers...

Beacon Academy, Headmaster's office

9:35 am

Ozpin was looking over some of documents and noticed Ruby has been marked absent from her classes, in which he felt like an idiot because he had concealed the fact Ruby has been confined to bed rest in order to recover from the severity of the spinal damage done by Blake's _Gambol Shroud_ back during the GRV outbreak, so there wouldn't be a slight panic. But he was also aware that a group of students had known about Ruby's injuries, so he didn't mind. His scroll had gone off, and he answered it...

" Yes?" Ozpin said.

" _Sir, there is a courier on his way up to see you, he has a package for you_ " The tower receptionist said.

" Okay." Ozpin said.

The elevator arrived at his office, and a young man exited off carrying a medium sized box under his arm with a clipboard resting on it. He was about Port's height, faded blonde hair was covered by a red and black cap, and he wore a grey and red jacket over a bright blue shirt with black pants and Red and white sneakers.

" Okay, Professor Ozpin, where would you like me to set this?" The courier asked.

" Set it over here." Ozpin recommended, as he cleared away some papers on one side of his desk.

The courier walked over and set the box down, in which Ozpin immediately heard the clank of metal inside the box, and noticed an envelope attached to it and sealed with the WHITECROSS emblem. The courier than took a breath, and then approached Ozpin with the clipboard.

" Okay, now I'm gonna need you to sign for this." The courier said.

" Of course." Ozpin said, putting his signature on the clipboard.

He shook hands with the courier, and the courier then proceeded on his way to his next job. Ozpin then picked up the envelope, and opened it, in which it was a letter from Xavier himself...

 _Dear Professor Ozpin,_

 _One of my survey teams had come across this when sweeping through the Nubian Valley in case of any hostile Grimm that tried to move in. They found it trapped under a heavy rock, from what looks like used to be part of a whole until a certain explosion happened. Took 15 men just to get it out, anyway, it's in pretty rough shape so I suggest having it fixed before returning it to it's rightful owner._

 _Yours truly_

 _Xavier._

Ozpin set the envelope down, and looked at the box and went to open it when the elevator sounded, and Professors Port, Goodwitch, and Oobleck exited the elevator. They each had questions regarding Ruby's latest string of absences to each of their classes, in which Ozpin decided it was time to tell the truth.

" Professors." Ozpin said.

" Ozpin, we have some growing concerns..." Port started.

" WHY HAS RUBY ROSE BEEN ABSENT THESE PAST FEW WEEKS?" Oobleck said really fast, right in Ozpin's face.

" Bartholomew, please." Goodwitch said.

" I figured that would be your reason for coming here." Ozpin said.

" We are just expressing some concern for why she has been absent to our classes even though her work is still getting done." Port said.

" Then it'll be best it you three listen." Ozpin started. " Do you remember the virus WHITECROSS was trying to destroy a few weeks back?" He said.

" Yes, and destroying it guaranteed the organization a position on the United Kingdom's Security Council." Oobleck said.

" Well, Blake Belladonna was discovered during the outbreak to have contracted the virus, and had an outburst while on an assignment." Ozpin said.

" How does the virus play into this outburst of hers?" Goodwitch asked.

" She began to hallucinate her fellow teammates as Grimm, and attacked them, wounding Miss Schnee and..." Ozpin said.

" Well, what happened?" Port asked.

" She drove her sword through Ruby's chest." Ozpin said.

" WHAT?!" Port said with his grey, bushy eyebrows raised.

" Oh my god." Goodwitch said in a shocked tone.

Oobleck accidentally spat his coffee into Ozpin's face, which took him a bit to clean up before he could continue his explanation.

" Anyway, the blade had missed all of the vital organs in her body, but did damage to her spinal cord." Ozpin explained.

" How serious was the damage?" Goodwitch asked.

" The blade fractured upon impacting with her spinal cord, and some shards merged with her nerves." Ozpin explained.

" So that explains why she was out the first week." Oobleck said.

" She was in the hospital with her sister and Weiss for the first week, and she was in an induced coma so her body could recover from the shock of the injury." Ozpin said.

" So, where is she?" Port asked.

" Currently at a physical therapy session in the city, Qrow has been taking her to her sessions." Ozpin said.

" What were the doctor's orders?" Oobleck asked.

" Ruby is to stay in bed for several weeks, excluding bathroom breaks and trips to physical therapy." Ozpin explained.

" Is she taking any medication for her spine?" Goodwitch asked.

" Yes, Cyphexaline." Ozpin said.

" Cyphexaline, a powerful bone supplement." Oobleck said.

The teachers concluded their conversation, and the three decided to correct Ruby's attendance sheet. Ozpin then turned his attention to the box that had been delivered to him from Xavier, and opened it up. The only thing in the box was Ruby's _Crescent Rose_ , which was in terrible shape. It was severely dented, it's firing chamber was crushed, it's paint had faded, it's handle was bent, and when he picked it up, there were parts shaking around inside. He looked up and saw General Ironwood and Penny enter the room, and they had noticed Ozpin holding Crescent Rose.

" Is that Ruby's weapon?" Ironwood asked.

" Yes, one of Xavier's survey teams found it when they were assessing the region after the outbreak, it was trapped under a rock." Ozpin said.

" It doesn't look too good." Penny said.

" No, it's been damaged greatly." Ozpin explained.

" I can fix it." Penny said with a proud tone.

" Penny, are you sure?" Ironwood said.

" Yes, I fixed a lot of thing in my free time." Penny explained.

" If she's wiling to-" Ozpin said, before realizing Penny was gone and _Crescent Rose_ was gone too.

A note was left on Ozpin's desk from Penny, asking that the weapon's blueprints be sent her way. Qrow arrived moments later after dropping off Ruby at her dorm, and delivered the Blueprints for the original to Penny, and she opened up _Crescent Rose..._

 _"_ Oh dear." Penny said, looking at the internal damage.

She immediately went to work on repairing the damage done to it by the rock, and even began to design a 3-D model of a new and improved _Crescent Rose_ labeled as " CRESCENT ROSE MK 2".

 **This chapter ends with Ruby's teachers learning the situation regarding Ruby, and Penny begins to make developments of a CRESCENT ROSE MK 2 while also repairing the original after it had been confirmed to be severely damaged. The next chapter has a celebrity cameo appearance by two popular YouTube sensations, and the situation of the fang is revealed after the outbreak of GRV.**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	10. Chapter 9: High Risk Work

Chapter 9: High Risk Workplace

White Fang Training Center, Mistral

7:59 pm

Caius and the White Fang Lieutenant had arrived at the training center, a massive compound hidden the mountains of Mistral. Hundreds of Faunus were training to be White fang soldiers, which had alarmed Caius and Blake, who was watching a camera hidden on Caius's jacket.

" Welcome to our training center." The lieutenant said.

" Why so many recruits?" Caius asked.

" That outbreak WHITECROSS was fighting did a number on us, we lost a lot of people. Adam ordered any infected individuals to be shot on sight." The Lieutenant said.

" Why didn't he just send them to WHITECROSS?" Caius asked.

" We are the most infamous organization in Remnant, do you think WHITECROSS is gonna give the cure to us?" The Lieutenant said.

" _Adam ordered his people who were infected with the virus executed? That's showing how far he's fallen. "_ Blake said.

" Anyway, go get yourself a training uniform and meet with instructor Talvas." The Lieutenant ordered.

The Lieutenant walked away and Caius slipped towards the gate control booth, in which he was confronted by the watchman...

" Hey, what are you doing here?" The Watchman asked.

" I'm sorry, who are you?" Caius said.

" I'm the guy who's post you're trespassing on." The Watchman said angrily.

" Really? Because you look like a dead man." Caius said, before stabbing the watchman with a pale, white liquid metal arm blade.

Caius then dragged the man's dead body into the booth, and then approached the gate control and leaked a bit of liquid metal into the console, giving him access to the facility's entire systems network. He quickly powered down the artillery turrets that watched the area of the gate. He then immediately got on the line with Blake...

" Blake, I have powered down the gate's defenses." Caius said.

" _Good, Hera and Katie are on standby with the pheromones, when Duncan fires the flare, open the gate._ " Blake said.

" Understood, ma'am." Caius said.

Duncan, who was sitting on a small cliff, fired his flare gun in the air, and Caius opened the gates. Katie and Hera threw canisters of Grimm pheromones which had drawn in vast of hordes of Grimm towards the White Fang, while the small resistance group escaped in their Nightprowler. While Blake's war was taking hold, Penny was recruiting the aid of some old friends to construct some helpful videos for Ruby so she would know how to use the newfound dangerous weapon she had created for her.

Aletian cruiser _Constantine_ _,_ workshop

9:00 am

Penny was in the workshop of the Aletian cruiser _Constantine_ _,_ Ironwood's personal flagship, repairing the damaged _Crescent Rose Mk 1_ as she referred to call it. But while doing so, she had also built for her friend a brand new weapon she called _Crescent Rose Mk 2_ , which was made to be lightweight, allowing the wielder to swing with more speed and ferocity. In place of it being a heavy sniper rifle, she had it have the ability to transform into an SMG that could fire 50 caliber rounds.

" Computer, can you print a copy of the schematics for Crescent Rose Mk 2?" Penny asked.

" _Understood, printing schematics for Crescent Rose Mk 2 now."_ The computer said.

" _Now, who do I know that is good at the use of a scythe and who is good at the use of a gun?_ " Penny thought.

" I got it!" Penny said.

9:03 am

Two young men, one with pink hair and one with green hair, walked towards the workshop to talk with Penny about the certain matter she wanted to discuss with them...

" Well, what'd you think the Ginger wants with us?" The green-haired boy asked in a thick accent.

" Uh, her name is Penny dude, and she wants us to test a new weapon she made." The pink-haired boy asked.

" Still, I'm surprised Ol Ironwood let us in here, usually the only ones who are let in are convicts or soldiers." The green-haired boy said.

" Jack, save the funny commentary for the scroll-vids." The pink-haired boy, Mark, said.

The two boys entered the room, and they saw Penny making the finishing touches to _Crescent Rose Mk 2,_ which was a scythe with an energy blade instead of a metal one that would be top heavy. _Crescent Rose Mk 1_ sat off to the side fixed.

" Hey guys." Penny said.

" Good to see you buddy." Jack said.

" Hello, Penny." Mark said.

" You're probably wondering why I asked for you two here." Penny said.

" You want us to test out some badass weapon you made. Oh, is this it?" Jack said, running up to _Crescent Rose Mk 2._

" Yes, yes it is." Penny said.

" Man, have you worked on this all night? Because it does look badass." Mark said.

" Yes, but don't tell General Ironwood about it." Penny said.

" Of course, I wouldn't talk to that jarhead myself." Jack said.

" Well, Ironwood mainly talks to his soldiers or you." Mark said.

" What's this 50 caliber bullet doing here?" Jack asked, pointing to a lone bullet sitting on the table.

" Don't touch that, I've got plans for it." Penny said.

" Oh, okay." Jack said.

" Anyway, I would like you guys to make some instructional videos so my friend Ruby could use it." Penny said.

" Who's this Ruby?" Jack asked.

" She's my friend, she got hurt, so she can't use the original anymore." Penny explained.

" How bad was she hurt?" Mark asked.

" She got stabbed through the chest and it damaged her spine." Penny said, with Mark and Jack giving shocked looks on their face.

" Is she...Paralyzed?" Mark asked.

" No, she just can't lift anything super-heavy." Penny explained.

" Jesus Christ, she took a stab wound to the chest and lived?" Jack said.

" Yes." Penny said.

" Man, that girl must be tough." Jack said.

" Anyway, this is _Crescent Rose Mk 2."_ Penny said, activating the energy blade.

" WHOA! THIS IS CRAZY!" Jack exclaimed.

" Man, did not see that one coming, oh, that's not a joke for you to enjoy Jack." Mark said.

" Is that an energy blade? Nice one!" Jack said.

" It's like that sci-fi movie we've seen, you know, those huntsmen with the energy swords." Mark said.

" Only she's got an energy scythe!" Jack said.

" Didn't that movie had a son fight his father?" Penny asked.

" Yeah, what was the title?" Mark asked Jack.

" I don't know, the storyline was all over the place." Jack responded.

" Can you guys test it?" Penny asked.

" Yes, but not in this High risk workplace, too much stuff that can hurt us." Jack tried to say.

" You just want to avoid pissing The General off don't you?" Mark asked.

" Hey, I already have trouble in video games, I don't need trouble with the military." Jack said.

Penny, Mark, and Jack went off the _Constantine_ in order to film the instructional videos for Ruby so she would know how to use it once she was feeling well enough. While they were off directing, Blake and her allies were in the biggest battle of their lives in Vacuo, trying to take down a smuggling group with the help of two defectors from that group and a group of teenage girls that were going to be sold into prostitution to fund the White Fang's cause.

Arkham Desert, Vacuo

Midday

A large, make-shift armored rig was making it's way across the desert with a whole force of vehicles giving chase to it. The vehicles and rig were owned by the Desert Runners, the largest criminal smuggling organization in all of Vacuo. They were well known for smuggling contraband, drugs, weapons, slaves, prostitutes, and even criminals on the run from local law enforcement agencies. Katie, Blake, and Caius were on the back of the rig fighting smugglers that had jumped onboard, while Hera was providing fire support from the Nightprowler and Aiden and Duncan were protecting the rear of the rig. A pale young man was driving the rig while a blonde-haired woman in punk rocker clothes was shooting at dirt bike riders coming up the side.

" You having fun, Caius?" Katie asked.

" I am having a smashing time." Caius said as he smacked a smuggler off with a liquid metal hammer.

" Stay focused, we have to get these girls out of here." Blake said.

" Yes, ma'am." Caius said.

They continued the fight, and one smuggler slipped past and tried to grab one of the girls in the back seat of the trucks, only to be shot in the face by a shotgun. The punk rocker girl turned to the young one and checked to see if they're all right.

" You okay?" Katria asked.

" Yes." The young girl said in a scared tone.

" Vic, we need a way to lose them." Katria asked the driver.

Vic looked to the side, only to see a large sandstorm heading their way, and immediately noticed something else that was rather peculiar, a girl riding a motorcycle along them, with yellow shotgun gauntlets on her arms.

" Vic?" Christine asked.

" We can loose them in the sandstorm up ahead, you girls get under cover." Vic ordered.

" _Duncan, tell your people to get ready, we're gonna try and lose them in the storm."_ Katria said into a radio.

" _Got it, Eric, Hera, ascend to 40,000 feet."_ Duncan radioed to Eric.

" _What, why?_ " Eric asked.

" _We're heading towards a sandstorm, and you know how bad these Vacuo ones can be._ " Duncan explained.

" _Understood, ascending to 40,000 feet, Hera, strap yourself in._ " Eric said.

Sandstorms in the Arkham desert were ten times more dangerous than that of normal sandstorms, as they would some times carry electrically-charged sand into the air with some dust mixed in, thus creating deadly thunderbolts that could kill a man in seconds by cooking them alive. The winds would go so fast that little cyclones would crop up, and sweep away anything in their path, with a few desert swarmers mixed in to cause more trouble as these Grimm would tear anything apart in their path. The motorcycle girl (Yang) diverted to a location where cover would be found, while the rig and smuggler vehicles disappeared into the storm.

" _Keep your eyes peeled for swarmers, they always try to take those first."_ Katria radioed to the group.

" AHHH!AHHH!AHHH!" A smuggler crew screamed.

Katie looked to see a smuggler crew getting ripped apart by the swarmers, large black and white wasp Grimm that could tear a human apart in seconds. Duncan ordered his people into the containers, in which everyone took shelter in one. The rig drove out of the storm, but The Desert Runners were slaughtered by the swarmers, and the rig had stopped so they could clean out the sand from it's vents and wash themselves up. Duncan simply shook off the sand, and simply said to Blake...

" Man, talk about a high-risk workplace." Duncan said with a rimshot going off.

" I'm sorry, I've really got to change my ringtone." Katie said.

 **This chapter ends with a Mad Max style ending, as Blake and her allies fight in a desert sequence on the back of a big rig to protect a group of kids who were going to be sold into prostitution in order to fund the White Fang. It is revealed that the virus had crippled the White Fang's numbers, throwing the terrorist organization into disorder. Adam had ordered the soldiers infected executed, so the White Fang's main focus is recruiting. Blake has incapacitated their operations in Mistral, Atlas, and now Vacuo. There is a special celebrity cameo appearance by Jacksepticeye and Markiplier from YouTube as two friends of Penny who help Penny make a series of instructional videos for Ruby when she is ready to use _Crescent Rose Mk 2_ , a weapon designed by Penny herself. The next chapter starts off with a conversation between Winter and Weiss about Weiss's new relationship with Ruby, and Yang learns that Winter is hunting them both in order to drag them back to Beacon.**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	11. Chapter 1O: The Talk

Chapter 10: The Talk

Vesemir Gardens, City of Vale

Noon

Winter was taking some time off from her pursuit of Blake and Yang so her airship could undergo some maintenance and refueling. But she had also recently learned that her younger sister, Weiss, is currently in a romantic relationship with Ruby, her incapacitated team captain. She learned about this through Qrow, the latter's uncle, who decided to tell her about the fact her sister is currently dating her team captain even though they have been on the road to recovery following receiving a severe spine injury after being stabbed by a teammate infected with the Grimm Rage virus. She called her out to the Vesemir gardens so they could have lunch together and have a discussion...

" How's the hunt going?" Weiss asked her sister.

" I believe that Miss Belladonna has been taking advantage of the White Fang's crippled state by attacking their operations in Vacuo, Atlas, and Mistral." Winter explained.

" So wherever she goes, Yang follows." Weiss said.

" Exactly, when they reach a certain point I intend to drag them both back to Beacon." Winter said.

" But what about the people she's working with?" Weiss asked.

" Since they are White Fang Defectors, they'll be moved into federal protection and work with The General on the matter." Winter said.

" What about that robot?" Weiss said.

" It is WHITECROSS property, so it'll be returned to it's rightful owners." Winter said.

" Oh, that is true." Weiss said.

" Anyway, how's Ruby doing?" Winter asked.

" Her spine's recovering, but her reflexes are having a hard time improving." Weiss explained.

" That's understandable, considering what's she's been through." Winter said.

" Her teachers understand why she's been absent the past few weeks." Weiss said.

" Ozpin finally tell them?" Winter asked.

" Yeah, they've made some corrections to her attendance record." Weiss said.

" Good. Listen..." Winter started.

" Yeah?" Weiss said.

" I had an, interesting talk with Qrow yesterday." Winter said, causing Weiss to nearly choke on her tea.

" You (cough) did huh?" Weiss said, trying to clear her throat.

" He told me that you and Ruby are spending time together in your free time." Winter said.

" Winter..." Weiss said, catching on to what her older sister had meant.

" You're dating your wounded team captain?" Winter asked.

" ( _Groan)_ he told you." Weiss said.

" Hey, he felt the need to." Winter said.

" Okay, yes, I'm dating Ruby." Weiss said with annoyance in her tone.

" Relax, Weiss, I am not going to judge." Winter said.

" You're not?" Weiss asked.

" I'd rather like to talk with you about some things for when Ruby gets better." Winter said.

" Oh, geez." Weiss said in response.

" What?" Winter asked.

" Are we seriously gonna have "the talk" in public?" Weiss said.

Winter was relentless, she was determined to have "The infamous talk" with her sister due to the fact she was in a relationship with the captain of her team, who was a lot younger than her. Weiss dreaded every moment Winter had talked about it, and Winter had advised her to have the talk with Ruby since Yang was busy trying to track down her partner. Weiss had no other choice since Winter had stood out in the hall to make sure she had spoken to Ruby about it.

" I seriously can't believe your sister made us have the Talk." Ruby said to her girlfriend.

" I know right?" Weiss said.

" If she ends up telling Yang about this, I will not be happy." Ruby said.

" Well, Qrow already told her." Weiss said.

" What?!" Ruby exclaimed.

" Yeah, Qrow told her we are dating." Weiss said.

" Oh, I am gonna have a serious talk with him." Ruby said angrily.

Weiss giggled at the fact that her girlfriend was gonna "have a serious talk" with her uncle about telling Winter about their relationship. She was then paged to report to Ozpin's office, in which she left Ruby alone with Qrow, and immediately heard them both arguing as she walked down the hall.

Beacon Academy Headmaster's office.

1:12 pm

Weiss had arrived at Ozpin's office after he had concluded a conversation with General Ironwood, who was trying to reorganize his forces that had fallen apart after the outbreak. Ironwood was frustrated after it had happened, as he was left with only his mechs, which lacked the human element he felt was required in an army. After he left, Weiss approached Ozpin's desk...

" You wanted to see me sir?" Weiss asked.

" Yes, have a seat." Ozpin said.

Weiss sat down in the chair as Ozpin adjusted himself in his seat...

" What did you want to talk about?" Weiss asked.

" I wanted to see how you were holding up since the outbreak." Ozpin said.

" It was only stopped a couple of weeks ago." Weiss said.

" I wanted to see how _you_ were holding up, Miss Schnee." Ozpin said.

" Oh." Weiss said.

" Has anything occurred to you since the incident?" Ozpin asked.

" Well, my cheek keeps feeling really sensitive as I rest it on my pillow." Weiss said.

" The doctor did say that cheek did have some nerve damage as well." Ozpin said. " How is Ruby doing?" He added.

" She's been having nightmares about it for a while now." Weiss said.

" Really? and how is her spine?" Ozpin asked.

" It's been getting better, had a couple of scares while at her therapy a while back." Weiss said.

" But, I think there's more to you both currently then is seen." Ozpin said.

Weiss took a breath, and stood up, walking over to the window...

" When it happened, I was more terrified than when I thought Winter had been killed on an assignment." Weiss started.

" Terrified for what?" Ozpin asked.

" For Ruby of course, when I saw her lying there on the ground, not moving at all, I feared Blake had killed her. When Yang snapped, and I noticed Ruby was still alive, I willingly threw myself over her to shield her should Yang accidentally hit her while she was on the ground." Weiss explained.

" You were willing to sacrifice yourself for her?" Ozpin asked.

" Yeah, I was." Weiss responded.

" Do you love her?" Ozpin asked.

" Yeah, I do." Weiss said.

" Many people do great acts out of love, and if you were afraid more than Yang for her life, it shows that you are truly in love with Ruby." Ozpin said.

" Really?" Weiss said.

" You willingly risked yourself to shield Ruby when her older sister had snapped after seeing what happened." Ozpin said.

" I care about Ruby, care enough that I was immediate to help her on her road to recovery." Weiss said.

" Right now, that is all that matters." Ozpin said.

Weiss took her Headmaster's words under advisement, and worked to understand what he had told her had meant. She returned to the dorm where Qrow and Ruby were talking while Ruby was taking her medicine, and then they all spent some time together before Qrow left to return to Signal. Meanwhile, Blake and her allies were about to enter a fight for their lives...

Southern Vale Airspace

2:00 pm

The Nightprowler flew over Southern Vale airspace, hoping to approach a safe house Eric had, while a thunderstorm brewed in their flight path, leaving Eric with no choice but to fly through. Blake, Caius, and Team DAHK, readied themselves for anything that were to come across their path. They had crippled the White Fang's operations in each of the kingdoms, leaving only the Vale chapter to fend for itself, as it was going to take the others longer to recover from the damage done by Blake and her allies. But this flight wasn't going to last, as a rogue thunderbolt struck their rear left engine, causing it to spiral downward in a dangerous tailspin. It crashed among a series of rocks, killing Eric.

" Blake! Blake!" Katie screamed.

Blake's ears rang which had only annoyed her, and her head was throbbing in pain. Katie ran up and cut her free from her seat belt, and the two raced outside where Hera, Duncan, and Aiden were fighting off Grimm that were swarming the crash site with Caius's assistance. Blake immediately killed a Beowolf that tried to kill her, and they fought off a whole wave of Grimm. But they were not stopping, they were arriving in full force, and Yang came riding out on her motorcycle into the fray.

" YANG!" Blake screamed.

" I said I'd find you!" Yang responded.

The duo were glad to be reunited, but the threat of the Grimm had still remained. They had fought off wave after wave of oncoming hostiles, until Katie got pulled down and Hera struggled to save her, and Aiden and Duncan were cornered and Blake was knocked over, with Yang helping her up. Blake felt they weren't going to make it, as the Grimm horde swarming them had their backs against the wall, until a flicker of hope came in the form of a bright, golden thunderbolt striking the ground...

" KILL THEM ALL!" Alexis screamed.

Blake turned to see a bright green light zipping across the sky like a fast creature of unknown origin. It was actually a small silver ball, ripping apart any Grimm in it's path, and Dante came rushing over the hill with two bladed, elegantly designed flintlock pistols in hand. He carved his own path, while his girlfriend Alexis followed along with a whip sword, glowing with electrical energy, and Blaze with an enormous red katana in hand. They were being led by Winter Schnee, who was slaying Grimm left and right. They were fighting as if they were poets of war, the masters of combat and skill, as they quickly quelled the ranks of the oncoming horde and caused a few to retreat. Blake was fighting until she was knocked out by a Beowolf strike...

" _You two are riding with me, put the others in Dante's airship._ " Winter said.

 **This chapter ends with a climatic ending as Blake and her allies are surrounded after a stray lightning bolt took out the Nightprowler and killed its pilot. They are rescued by Yang, and then truly rescued by a tag-team force of Winter, Dante, Alexis, and Blaze. Alexis's semblance gives her power over electricity, due to the fact she is based from Pikachu from the Pokémon series at the request of a friend. Blaze's semblance allowed him to cast bursts of energy with every swing of his weapon _Scarlet Summer._ Dante's pistols are named _Fire and Fury,_ while Alexis's whip sword is named _Swift Judgment._ The next chapter begins with a reunion and a struggle to return to normalcy...**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	12. Chapter 11: To Be Forgiven

Chapter 11: To Be Forgiven

Winter Schnee's Personal Airship

1am

Blake had awoken after taking a blow from a Beowolf that had knocked her unconscious during the fight. After the fight, she ordered Yang and Blake to be sent aboard her personal airship while Duncan and his team were to ride with Dante, Alexis, and Blaze. Blake had a bandage wrapped around her head, and Yang sat in the seat next to her, with her Motorcycle resting in the cargo hold of the ship. Winter walked in from the cockpit of the airship and she did not look happy...

" You're awake, good." Yang said in a relieved tone.

" Where's Duncan and the others?" Blake asked.

" Mr. Wolfe and his team are riding with Field Marshall Perez and his associates." Winter explained.

" Thanks for getting us out of there." Yang said.

" Good, because you're both going back to Beacon." Winter said.

" What?" Blake said with an alarmed tone.

" Both of you abandoned your teammates when your leader needed you most." Winter said in an angry tone.

" That's why I went after her, she didn't have to run, we understood she had no control over her actions." Yang said.

" So you abandoned your sister who was helpless and vulnerable, just to pursue your partner?!" Winter said even more angrily.

" ENOUGH!" Blake exclaimed.

" Ruby and your teammates had already forgiven you Blake, they understood that your actions weren't your own." Winter said in a calmer tone.

" But I couldn't forgive myself." Blake said.

" Huh?" Yang said.

" Ruby may never get the chance to become a Huntress because of me. She's going to miss out so many experiences, moments in her life, all taken away from her at that moment I drove my blade into her torso. I basically killed Ruby's chances at becoming a huntress." Blake said, before falling into Yang's lap crying.

" Well, she's alive. That has to count for something." Winter said.

" She made it?" Blake asked.

" Yes, she awoke from her coma almost three weeks ago, and she and Weiss are back at Beacon." Winter explained.

" She's back at school?" Yang asked.

" Yes, though she has been confined to bed rest for a while at the request of her doctors." Winter said.

" How does she get up to the top bunk?" Yang asked.

" She doesn't, she's been sleeping on Weiss's bed while Weiss has been sleeping on yours." Winter said, talking to Blake.

" Really?" Blake said.

" Yes, and they are currently in a relationship." Winter said.

Yang and Blake's jaws dropped when Winter had said that to them: Weiss and Ruby were dating. The airship pilot radioed, saying that they were just five minutes out of Beacon, in which Yang and Blake were bracing themselves for their most toughest return to school life after everything they had done. They went through a gauntlet of people giving them angry glares, and when they approached the dorms, they were approached by an angry Qrow.

" Thanks Ice Queen, I'll take it from here." Qrow said.

" Uncle Qrow?" Yang said as Winter walked away.

" You're lucky your father is not here right now, otherwise you'll be getting an earful of what he has to say." Qrow said, taking a sip of his flask.

" So I'm getting an earful from you?" Yang remarked.

" Yes, you are." Qrow said.

" Okay, let's hear it." Yang said.

" That was the most stupid thing you had ever done, leaving your sister by herself while she was injured." Qrow said.

" Well, I'm glad she's still alive." Blake said.

" You're lucky your friends, Weiss, and myself pitched into help her." Qrow said.

" Really?" Yang said.

" Well, come on, time to reunite." Qrow said, leading them into the building, before telling Yang that her father says she's grounded.

He led them to the dorm room, where Team JNPR was standing outside and they too, had angered looks on their faces. Ren walked over to the door and knocked, telling somebody inside that Yang and Blake had arrived. Weiss had exited, wearing a completely new uniform that looked like a combination of a formal suit and warrior armor, with Myrtenaster at her side, and she turned to see Blake and Yang, and approached them both.

" Blake, Ruby wants to talk to you, alone." Weiss said.

" Okay." Blake said, walking towards the door.

" Weiss, before..." Yang said.

" If you ever run again, it won't just be Winter tracking you down." Weiss said angrily.

" Alright, I'm sorry." Yang said.

" I'm guessing Winter has told you." Weiss said.

" Yes, she told me that you guys are dating." Yang responded.

" You'll probably want to express your opinion now." Weiss stated.

" Just one: You break her heart, I'll break your legs." Yang said.

While the girls were talking, Blake had entered the room and saw Ruby sitting up on the bed, her bare feet resting firmly on the floor. She looked up at Blake with a Leader's concern, in which Blake had been choking back tears that were slowly starting to build.

" Hey, Blake." Ruby said.

" Hey, Ruby, glad to see you're still breathing." Blake said.

" Yeah, you've got separate the good from the bad." Ruby said.

" Listen I...I...( _voice breaking)_ " Blake said.

" Yes?" Ruby said.

" I'M SO SORRY." Blake said, slumping to the floor in front of Ruby.

Ruby listened as Blake was in tears over what she had done on that fateful day, begging to be forgiven by Ruby for everything she had done. Blake thought it was hopeless as Ruby didn't respond to her at all, until she looked up and saw she had an outstretched hand to her. She took the hand, and Ruby pulled her close and hugged her teammate and held her close and spoke something to her...

" I forgive you. For all that you've done, I forgive you." Ruby said.

" ( _Voice broken)_ Thank you." Blake said.

Blake helped Ruby up and they continued to hug as tears flooded their way down Blake's face, and then Weiss and Yang entered the room to see the tears flowing down Blake's face. Yang was amazed that her sister was still alive after everything that happened to her, and she too joined in the hug along with Weiss.

8:00 am

Ruby was now laying back down in bed and eating breakfast while talking to Blake, who was sitting at the foot of the bed. Yang and Weiss were talking about how things have been since the outbreak off to the side...

" You and Weiss are dating now?" Blake said.

" Yep, turns out she really loves me." Ruby said.

" Do you love her the same way?" Blake asked.

" Yeah, I do." Ruby said.

" Okay, so what have you two been up to?" Blake inquired.

" Everyone has been super nice to me, Cardin and his team actually respect me for surviving a blade through the chest." Ruby said.

" Cardin respects you?" Blake said with shock in her voice.

" Yeah, he says "I'm a badass for surviving a blade through the chest." Ruby said in a similar tone to Cardin's.

" Ha, that's almost sounds like Cardin himself." Blake said.

" Yeah, Sun and Neptune have been coming in to hang out with me in their free time, so does Velvet's team." Ruby said. " I've also gotten better at math." She added.

" You've gotten better at math?" Blake asked in disbelief.

" Yeah, I've had too much free time on my hands so I ended up doing math equations whenever I was bored." Ruby said.

" Well, everyone needs a hobby." Blake said.

" What have you been up to while on the move?" Ruby asked.

" I joined with some old friends and launched attacks against the White Fang while they are weakened right now." Blake explained.

" The White Fang's been weakened right now?" Ruby asked.

" Yeah, turns out the Grimm Rage Virus spread amongst their ranks and nearly caused them to collapse." Blake said.

" How did they handle that?" Ruby asked.

" Turns out, their leader ordered any infected executed." Blake said.

" That's a cold policy." Ruby said.

" Yeah, but my friends and I slowed their recovery process." Blake said.

" How?" Ruby inquired.

" We destroyed training centers, raided hideouts and safe houses, and even toppled their connections with a smuggling group in Vacuo." Blake said.

" Man, you must have needed an army for that." Ruby said.

" Actually, my friends were White Fang Defectors, so they knew about these places." Blake said.

" They defected?" Ruby said.

" Yeah, they abandoned the ranks after my mentor tried to have them drag me into the group." Blake said.

" That's actually a smart move." Ruby said.

Weiss came over and told Blake that Professor Ozpin wanted to speak with them both immediately. So the girls proceeded to the Headmaster's office, and were greeted by General Ironwood and Professor Ozpin, each wanting to speak their own opinions on their behavior.

" Good morning, ladies." Ozpin said.

" Hello, Professor." Both girls said.

" We've brought you both here to explain your actions in the following weeks." Ironwood said.

The girls told their story to the wizened teacher and the experienced military leader, and both individuals just listened to every word, every detail that was given to them by the two girls. They just sat there and listened to every word told to them, and after 13 long minutes of hearing their story, they began to speak...

" Well, that's quite a tale." Ozpin said.

" I know, right?" Yang said.

" I hadn't suspected that the virus would have damaged the White Fang's operations this bad." Ironwood said.

" Yeah, neither did we." Blake said.

" Well, what should be done about Mr. Wolfe and his team?" Ozpin asked.

" I think I might know something for them to do." Ironwood said.

" Really?" Blake said.

" They'll be a response team for when The White fang comes into play." Ironwood said.

" So, you want them to work for you?" Yang asked.

" I'll have them be independent, I'll have them work outside the boundaries of the military, but be there when we need them." Ironwood explained.

" I think Duncan would like that." Blake said.

After their conversation, Blake and Yang proceeded to their classes, and Ironwood returned his focus to rebuilding his forces that were currently present in Vale. But after he left, Ozpin pressed a concealed button underneath his desk, and a podium with an elegantly designed book rested on it. He walked over and opened the book, labeled _Master and Student,_ and was enveloped in a bright light that had transported him to the one place nobody had expected that he would know existed: he was transported to Fortuna.

" Hello, Professor Ozpin." The Storyteller said.

" Hello, Old friend." Ozpin responded.

" What brings you to me?" The Storyteller asked.

" What do you know of a young man named Duncan Wolfe?" Ozpin inquired.

" He's a student of mine and keeper of _Broken and Repaired,_ the sixth in the series while you guard the fourth." The Storyteller said.

" So he has the sixth?" Ozpin asked.

" Yes. He does." The Storyteller said.

" Good, we may need that volume when the time comes." Ozpin said.

" You are determined to find my volumes that bad, huh?" The Storyteller said.

" These volumes can train our Guardian when the time comes." Ozpin said.

 **This chapter ends with a hidden truth about Ozpin revealed: he seeks the 12 volumes of The Storyteller to train the Guardian he seeks when the times comes. The Storyteller's 12 volumes are ways to train warriors to be the best than what they are considered. But after the First Grimm Wars, all 12 volumes were lost, until the sixth in the series ended up in the possession of Duncan Wolfe, a White Fang Defector and student of The Storyteller, while the fourth ended up in the care of Professor Ozpin. The next chapter is when Duncan carries out a solo assignment for Professor Ozpin and they propose a partnership in the search for the 12 volumes, and Blake and Yang face a hardship when they come across a danger when end up in the possession of the Storyteller's third text, in which an old enemy of his past returns.**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	13. Chapter 12: Rise or Fall

Chapter 12: A Warrior will fall or rise

( _Narration by an unknown female.)_

The Storyteller was ancient, living for thousands of years in the world of Fortuna. Over those centuries, he took countless disciples under his immortal wing, sharpening them into becoming legendary warriors that have written the course of history. But, there was once a time where a student had a power that rivaled his own and tried to usurp the mantle of Fortuna's ward from him, only to be defeated. With no other choice as they would attempt to do it again, he locked them away in a part of Fortuna that could only be accessed by the Third in his series of 12 volumes, legendary texts that pressed warriors against the hardest trials to make them stronger. After the first Grimm Wars, the 12 volumes were divided, each ending up in the far reaches of the kingdoms, with the third being hidden away by a band of warriors entrusted by the Storyteller himself. The Third in the Series, _Master's Shadow,_ resided in an old chamber in Vale, where the Student waited for the time they would return...

Beacon Academy, Emerald Forest

11:10 am

Blake and Yang walked along the forest, sweeping through hostile Grimm that had been accumulating there. This had been their first field assignment they had been given since they had returned to Beacon after wreaking havoc on the now-crippled White Fang. They swept through waves of Grimm, destroying huge packs, before stumbling across some old ruins...

" When were these here?" Blake asked.

" This place must be thousands of years old." Yang remarked.

" Let's have a look in case any Grimm are hiding inside." Blake mentioned.

" Good idea." Yang responded.

They entered the ruins of what had appeared to be an old temple, in which they came across _Master's shadow,_ sitting still atop a marble podium, with light shining down upon it. Before they approached the book, Blake decided to talk to Yang about how she felt about Ruby and Weiss's relationship...

" How do you feel about Weiss dating your sister?" Blake said.

" Are we seriously gonna have this conversation?" Yang said.

" I just wanted to see how you felt." Blake said in defense.

" I'm...actually pretty happy for them." Yang said.

" Really?" Blake asked.

" Yeah, Weiss was there for her when I wasn't, that shows how much she cares about her." Yang said.

" I talked to Ozpin, apparently she shielded Ruby in case you were to accidentally hit her when you had your outburst." Blake said.

" Yeah, threw herself over so she wouldn't be hit." Yang said.

" Okay, so how long has your dad grounded you?" Blake said.

" Two months of no motorcycle, video games, or T.V unless it's the news, and I have to stay in detention with him every night." Yang explained.

" Man, that's rough." Blake said.

" Yeah, he's even making me do the laundry down at Signal on Sundays." Yang said.

" That's even more rough." Blake said.

They approached the book and they both opened it up and they were teleported inside to Fortuna, but it was a part of Fortuna Blake did not recognize, as a large spire sat ahead of them and the environment was dark. Eventually, a dark blue void appeared ahead of them and a voice began to speak...

" _Please, you have to help me._ " The voice said.

" What the?" Yang said.

" _Please, you have to help me complete my task._ " The Voice said.

" Calm down, what task?" Blake asked.

" _I must kill the villain who resides at the peak of the spire._ " The voice said.

" Who are you?" Yang asked.

" _My name is Alleecia, listen, you must get me out of the trap she has me in._ " The Voice said.

" All right, Alleecia, how do we get to you?" Blake asked.

" _You need to get across the shadows, be careful, go in without a light, and you will be killed._ " Alleecia said before the void disappeared.

" What does she mean by that?" Yang asked.

Blake looked down to see a small rat-like creature scurrying towards the shadows, and they both watched in horror as the creature was quickly reduced to a skeleton in a matter of seconds as Blake was timing it...

" Seraphim." Blake said.

" What?" Yang asked.

" Seraphim, they're really small insect-like Grimm that can reduce a person to a skeleton in 30 seconds exactly." Blake said, looking at her watch.

" How do you know that?" Yang asked.

" Duncan told me about an encounter he had." Blake explained.

" So how do we get past them if they are too small to fight?" Yang asked in a concerned tone.

" We use this." Blake said, picking up a lightsphere.

The two girls made their way through the swarm and reached the exit: the start of the next chapter of the book. They entered the first floor of the spire and was approached by a spectral Alleecia this time, who was wearing an elaborate armor set.

" _Good, now you've got to take out the wards that are holding me on the second tier."_ Alleecia said, pointing to her frozen self on the upper tier of the spire.

" How do we shut them off?" Blake asked.

" _You'll need to take out the eyes of Katria, they're what's holding me in place since she put them there."_ Alleecia explained.

" What are the eyes of Katria?" Yang asked.

" _They're the artifacts of the prisoner that I have to take out._ " Alleecia said before disappearing again.

Yang and Blake had now learned the name of the enemy Alleecia was sent to kill: Katria. They immediately swept through and found a text by The Storyteller on the Eyes, a pair of enormous moonstones that are capable of holding immense power. They found both and overloaded them, in which they regrouped with Alleecia in the main chamber, as she was now free of the enchantment that had held her frozen in place. She was a little taller than Ruby, with long, light brown hair that stopped at her shoulders. She walked over to a large pile of books, and pulled an enormous greatsword from the pile, which was black and gold in its color. It looked as if it was burning in a blue flame, and had a bright red gem at the pommel.

" Thanks, being frozen like that does hell on the back." Alleecia said, cracking her back.

" How long were you like that?" Blake said.

" I don't know, lost count after the 77th year." Alleecia said.

" You've been frozen like that for more than 77 years?" Yang said.

" Yeah, being like that caused me not to age." Alleecia said.

" How old are you?" Alleecia said.

" 17. Hey, quick question?" Alleecia said.

" Shoot." Yang said.

" Who is currently in charge of the Aletian Military?" Alleecia asked.

" That would be General Ironwood, though I feel he's a bit hot-headed." Blake said.

" Ironwood? As in James Ironwood?" Alleecia said.

" Wait, you know him?" Yang said with shock in her voice.

" I remember him when he was a lot smaller. I was like the older sister he never had." Alleecia said.

Blake was looking at the large metal gauntlet on her right arm that had what appeared to have a skull-shaped design on the palm...

" Oh, you're curious about this?" Alleecia said to Blake.

" Yes, I've seen that gauntlet before, but not on your arm." Blake said.

" Yeah, I've seen that gauntlet before too, but it was on a very powerful huntsman that was mentioned in a book once." Yang said.

They eventually remembered where they had seen the gauntlet before, it was the gauntlet of the first horseman, leader of a band of huntsmen that had such powerful semblances that they were able to topple any hostile threat that stood in their way. But one question was on their mind: How did Alleecia get her hands on the gauntlet?

" Come on, we've got to kill Katria before she escapes." Alleecia said.

" Why is she so dangerous?" Yang asked.

" Because she intends to kill anyone who stands in their way." Alleecia said.

" Okay, that's not good." Blake said.

They raced through the trials of the story, and came face to face with Katria herself at the top of the spire. Katria was about as tall as Yang, but with snow white hair and piercing blue eyes. She wore elegantly-designed robes and carried a black metal long-staff with a glowing green sphere at the top.

" Katria." Alleecia said.

" So the executioner has finally been freed, what a pity." Katria said.

" Save your breath, because I don't have time to put up with your rants." Alleecia said.

" Heh, I like your attitude." Katria said, hurling a bolt of electricity at the three girls.

A fight ensued, with Alleecia racing to end the life of her sworn enemy, atop the largest spire in all of Fortuna. They fought like they were living a climatic story battle, where the heroes rallied to topple a cruel tyrant, with the heroes becoming Victorious, as Alleecia severed Katria's head with one swing of her sword. But without every victory, there must be a sacrifice, and Yang looked to see Blake clutching a profusely bleeding side...

" Blake?" Yang said in a worried tone.

" I don't...feel good." Blake said before falling to the ground.

Yang and Alleecia raced over to help her, in which they had found out she had been struck by a shadow talon strike carried out by Katria. They returned to Remnant and sought medical help for Blake, and while that task was being carried out, Xavier was about to reveal a secret that he had learned to his inner circle...

WHITECROSS Headquarters, Vale

3:30 pm

Dante arrived alongside Alexis and Blaze at the headquarters of the organization in the city. It was a massive building, over 200 stories tall, guarded by the most advanced security systems and personnel on the planet, and home to some of the most advanced labs in Remnant. The trio were determined to reach the 112th floor, as it was home to the office of their superior officer, and they were greeted by Athena, Xavier's A.I helper and Secretary.

" Greetings you three, Mr. Moore will be seeing you now." Athena said.

" Thanks." Dante said.

They entered the office, and watched as Xavier was looking over some maps of disease outbreaks that had been recorded by WHITECROSS, who were also the ones to stop them. The first map was of the Celaphax plague that killed over 20,000 people, the second was of the outbreak of Seranthril, and the rest were lesser outbreaks leading up to the GRV outbreak that had been recently stopped over a few weeks ago.

" Why are you looking over these maps?" Alexis asked.

" You've been staring at them for days." Blaze said.

" Why have you called us here boss?" Dante asked the young man.

" What do you see when you look at these maps?" Xavier asked.

" Maps." They responded.

Xavier pressed a few buttons on his Holo-console and they eventually saw what he was trying to show them: The outbreak routes formed a symbol, a symbol that was only known amongst the head administrators of the organization would know...

" What is that?" Dante asked.

" That is the symbol of the Lowell institute, an organization that WHITECROSS has been at war with for years." Xavier said.

" I thought they were shut down 19 years ago." Blaze said.

" Turns out, they weren't." Xavier responded.

Xavier explained to his associates that the Lowell institute was once a research organization that worked for the government of Vacuo, until they unleashed a mutated and aggravated strain of Celaphax into Remnant and even tried to sell it as a bio-weapon. WHITECROSS discovered their involvement and it launched a raid on their location, which immediately resulted in them being shut down and their bioweapons destroyed, but their staff dropped off grid following the shut down...

" So you think they had restarted again?" Dante asked.

" Possibly. But I now know these outbreaks weren't random." Xavier said.

" They were coordinated." Alexis said.

" So yes, they're back, but we are going to stop them." Xavier said.

" Hell yeah." Dante said.

They all knew what this had meant, the biggest battle was about to begin...

 **This chapter ends with Xavier and his inner circle discovering that each of the outbreaks were coordinated and carried out by the ruthless Lowell institute, an organization of Bio-terrorists. Blake and Yang have released Alleecia Williams, rider of the red horse, and helped her complete the task of assassinating the ruthless former student of The Storyteller. The final chapter is next and a secret of the storyteller is revealed, and fast-forward moment occurs in which someone has gotten married...**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	14. Chapter 13: The Anomaly

Chapter 13: The Anomaly

Fortuna Archives

1:30 pm

The Storyteller was known for not just predicting how the lives of individuals were to play out, he always wrote them down in books and stored them in a massive superstructure he called his "archives". Inside were the books that detailed the lives of every individual in existence, even those not born yet. The archives also carried vaults where he stored books that he had considered anomalies, in which the person after their death was confirmed, he continued to write the story when he was supposed to stop.

But there was one book that he had locked away that had concerned him...

Vault 13

He opened the vault and looked at the book, in which it was pale white with a single rose on it. He remember that this book was the only one that he had considered to be an anomaly, as the woman it was about was presumed dead after an assignment. It was the book of Summer Rose, mother to Ruby Rose, and before he had even touched its surface, he heard a sinister cackle, quickly summoning his longsword _Fateweaver's Repute..._

" Who's there?" The Storyteller said.

" _Hehe, You are so slow old man._ " The female voice said.

The entity in the vault with him struck him into the podium, in which he struck it when it retaliated against him, knocking it out of the Vault. It tried to run away, only to be cornered outside the archives by The Storyteller, who did everything he could to try and kill the dark entity.

" Stay still, Abomination!" He said, swinging his sword angrily.

" _Why? That'll spoil our fun._ " The entity said in a teasing tone.

" You are a disease that must be purged." The Storyteller said, striking the entity, who only seemed to enjoy it.

" _Ooh, are you always this rough?"_ The entity said, striking him again.

The entity summoned a group of shades to fight the Storyteller only for him to slay them, in which he grew more angry with every attempt by the Entity for tormenting him...

" Show yourself, demon!" The Storyteller demanded.

" _YOU DO NOT MAKE DEMANDS OF ME!_ " The entity screamed, hurling him across the courtyard.

The Storyteller impacted in the wall of one of the courtyard, and was shocked to learn that the entity attacking him was the shade of Katria, his former apprentice. She was now a Endarkened Wraith, a being of immense and terrible power. He immediately felt regretful, believing Alleecia's murdering of her was the push she needed to become this being of pure darkness, and she approached her weakened master...

" Katria, what have you become?" The Storyteller asked.

" _I have become so much more than you, Storyteller._ " Katria said.

" You are insane, that's why I locked you away." The Storyteller said.

" _No, you prevented my ascension to godhood, because I was more powerful than you._ " Katria remarked.

" You murdered your entire family in order to use their blood to better yourself." The Storyteller said.

" _Their sacrifice would have achieved my rebirth, but you sabotaged the story._ " Katria said.

" Your story was never written that way, as its change was not done by my hand." The Storyteller said.

" _You said no one should play with the laws of fate, and here you toy with them like a child."_ Katria said.

" I am an agent of the laws, and I have never broken them." The Storyteller said.

" _That is a bullshit response from a foolish old man._ " Katria said.

" What are you planning?" The Storyteller inquired.

" _I am planning to write a tale you could never change._ " Katria said.

" That's where you're wrong girl, Stories are my business alone." The Storyteller said, driving _Fateweaver's Repute_ into the entity's chest.

" _Not anymore."_ Katria said, striking the old man in the face.

Katria began to laugh as it was revealed she had blinded the Storyteller with that strike, rending his ability to predict how the world worked useless.

" WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?" The Storyteller demanded.

" _I have made the story much more interesting._ " Katria said. " _I will destroy the life of that warrior who aided in my murder, that Xiao Long, as she had destroyed everything that I knew. This isn't what I desired, I am cursed because of that child. Cursed to live my life as this monster, so I will treat her as the same monster, by ripping everything she loves out of her life."_ She said.

" Ha, you are suffering a rage curse." The Storyteller said.

" _Well Cassius, you have been afflicted with The Slave's affliction, so you are powerless._ " Katria said before disappearing.

The Storyteller was left alone by himself, while the mindless abomination that was his student had fled to carry out her goals of revenge against Yang for allowing her to fall to the Rage Curse Affliction, which had turned her into the very wraith that has blinded him. The Slave's affliction was a curse used by ancient magisters to control the slaves under their cruel rule, blinding them and rendering their semblances useless if they had one to use. Meanwhile in the real world, Weiss was about to ask Ruby an important question...

Team RWBY dorm

12:30 pm

After a few weeks, Ruby was up and about again, though she could not pick up anything heavy still and couldn't bend over to pick something up anymore, so she had to do a lot of crouching. Weiss was glad that her girlfriend was no longer confined to bed rest and could walk without suffering serious fatigue as a result. Yang went to Signal to continue her punishment that she had received from her father, while Blake was gone at the library to study.

" Wow, it's great that you are walking again." Weiss said.

" Yeah, being stuck in bed was boring." Ruby said.

" Well, it had it's advantages." Weiss said.

" Yeah, all those nights you were there to comfort me after a nightmare." Ruby pointed out.

" Well I care about you, so don't be surprised if I was right there after the nightmare." Weiss remarked.

" Hehe, true." Ruby responded.

" Anyway, I wanted to ask you something..." Weiss said.

" Yes?" Ruby said.

" Where do you see us going in the future?" Weiss asked.

" Huh, I really hadn't thought of that." Ruby said.

" Well, my father might leave me the company since Winter prefers the military life over the corporate life." Weiss said.

" True, I wonder what I'll because of this injur-eee!" Ruby said as she tripped walking towards Weiss.

Weiss raced to try and catch her girlfriend, only to notice a bright red aura surround her and balance her back into place. This had them both amazed...

" How did you do that?" Weiss asked.

" I don't know." Ruby responded.

" What kind of aura was that?" Weiss said.

" It felt...unworldly." Ruby said with a slight bit of shock in her voice. " Anyway, you were saying?" Ruby said.

" Well, I think I might have a solution in mind." Weiss said.

" Really?" Ruby asked.

" Will you be my wife when our time at school is over?" Weiss asked.

" Yes!" Ruby said, hugging Weiss.

There was a knock at the door, and Penny entered the room followed by Jack and Mark...

" Ruby, glad to see you're walking again." Penny said.

" Hey, Penny." Ruby said.

" So this is the badass chick you told us about." Jack said.

" Penny, who are your friends?" Weiss asked,

" Why hello ladies, my name is Mark and this is Jack." Mark said.

" Top of the morning to ya!" Jack said.

" I know you guys, you're famous on the Scroll-Tube." Ruby said with excitement.

" It's always nice to meet a fan! Specially such a tough one." Jack said.

" You think I'm tough?" Ruby asked.

" You survived a blade through the chest, that makes you a badass in our book." Mark said.

" Anyway, we brought you something." Penny said.

" What's that?" Ruby asked.

" Just something badass for a badass like you." Jack said.

Penny set the large box down, and pulled out _Crescent Rose Marks 2 and 1_ and turned _Mk 2_ on, revealing it's energy blade.

" Whoa!" Ruby said.

" This is your new _Crescent Rose!_ " Penny said.

" It's lightweight and packs a serious punch!" Mark said.

" You won't break your back holding it, and that's a guarantee!" Jack said.

" It also has a powerful alternate SMG form for you to use." Penny said.

" If it helps, we've made you some instructional videos for you." Mark said.

" They're so you can use it...LIKE A BOSS!" Jack exclaimed.

" Really, thanks guys." Ruby said.

" _Hehe, she is gonna be a great huntress after all._ " Weiss thought.

This was a joyous moment for Weiss, her girlfriend has just agreed to marry her after they graduate from Beacon. A few years later, that promise became a reality...

Morningstar Cathedral, Atlas

12 years later...

A much older Blake was standing outside the Grand Morningstar Cathedral on the day of Ruby and Weiss's wedding. The sun had begun to set, and people were inside it's grand ballroom celebrating the most recent union of the now-head of the Schnee Dust Company and her free-lance huntress wife. Yang walked out, wearing a long, golden dress made for her by Coco Adel, and was accompanied by Sun Wukong, who was dressed surprisingly nice.

" Hey Blake, you're missing a fun party." Sun said.

" Just needed some air." Blake said.

" Yeah, bunch of rich folks together does produce a lot of hot air." Yang said.

They had a laugh and Blake rejoined them inside, where they met up with their married teammates. The evening was proceeding good, with many familiar faces among the guests, such as Team CFVY, JNPR, and SSSN. Ruby and Weiss felt happy, without knowing the danger lurking in the shadows watching Yang...

" _Enjoy the evening Xiao Long, for it will be your last._ " Katria said with a smirk.

 **This chapter concludes RWBY: Tainted Blood. I hope you all smash that favorite button like a boss, and continue to check out my fanfictions as they are released. There is a planned sequel for this story, in which Katria's plans of vengeance come into play, and Yang is forced on the run as she framed for murder and the attempted murder of a certain individual.**

 **GOODBYE**


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